Blood is Thicker than Water
by Pit Viper of Doom
Summary: Spiker clasped her paw warmly. "Needles, you're our sister. We'll never leave you behind for anyone. We stick together, no matter what." Needles smiled. "No matter what," she promised. FULL SUMMARY INSIDE. Book 3 in the Demon's Revenge series
1. Chapter 1: Prologue

**SEQUEL TO CALL OF CTHULHU.**

**Years have passed since Cthulhu was last defeated, and for that long he has remained... relatively dormant. But an old enemy returns, gathering both power and followers, and posing a threat to everyone, including the children of Flippy, Shifty, Lucky, and Cuddles.  
When Cthulhu finally makes a terrifying and destructive comeback, he shows a particular interest in Flippy's young daughter, who has gained the companionship of the odd squirrel known as Hel. Her parents, her brothers, and all of her friends struggle to protect her, as does her own vicious yet surprisingly benevolent inner demon. Their valiant battle against evil proves to their enemies that blood is more than just a red liquid. But, as the spirit Ivan understands all too well, the decision of good and evil are not decided by blood. For him, blood has spilled blood more than once in his family.**

* * *

The two squirrels watched warily as the four creatures approached. A brown and white dog strode confidently toward them with a lean, tough rabbit, a frowsy skunk, and a mean-looking hamster flanking him. The dog's face was heavily scarred with fur growing in patches, and his black eyes burned with cruelty.

"Who're you?" one of the squirrels snarled, his black fur bristling slightly. His brother, another black-furred squirrel, toyed with a knife.

"I know you two are demons," the dog replied levelly. "Possessing living creatures in order to live, to kill. Very much like my companions and me, though I was not a demon. Only a soul who chose something that not many do."

"I'll ask again; who are you?" the black squirrel demanded again.

"That's not important," the dog answered. "For a while I used this idiot dog's name to shield my own identity, but now..." His eyes flashed black for a split second. "...Now, very gradually, I am becoming a demon. I understand it is... shall we say... _fashionable_ for demons to rename themselves after legendary monsters?" He nodded to the hamster, the skunk, and the rabbit. "These demons are Cerberus, Scylla, and Echidna. You may call me Kraken. What are your names?"

The squirrel who had not spoken yet stepped forward. "My name's Jormungand. That's my brother Fenris. Ignore him, he has a habit of killing everything that moves." Fenris let out a low growl, which Jormungand ignored. "You fancy us joining your little band?"

"You will be well-known and feared if you do so," the rabbit-demon Echidna told them, grinning wickedly.

The two squirrel brothers glanced at each other. Fenris shrugged. "It's not like we've got anything better to do. Fine, we'll tag along, Kraken. Oh, and just out of curiosity, what happened to your face?"

A ghost of a smile flitted across the dog's ruined features. "An old enemy of mine promised to smash my face off with a rock if he ever saw me again. He was never one to go back on his word."

Fenris nodded in acceptance of the explanation. "And what do you intend on doing?"

"Come with us, and we'll tell you," Kraken replied. Then, turning, he led the five of them away with the slightest hint of a swagger in his step.

* * *

Far away, in a place where no living thing can easily go, a dark-furred ermine folded his black wings as he watched the dog and his small group of demon followers. His face, half-hidden by the drawn-up hood of his dark cloak, betrayed no emotion.

The spirit accompanying him, on the other hand, was a different story. Her violet fur and white wingfeathers bristled with anxiety, and she fidgeted worriedly. Full of nervous energy, she toyed with the amber pendant around her neck and turned her wide, frightened eyes to the ermine.

"He's growing in power, my lord."

"Yes, I can see that," Shadow replied grimly. "Bent on power, too. I believe he even surpasses your son in evil."

The angel flinched.

"Forgive me, Lilia," Shadow apologized, hanging his head in contrition. "My mouth runs ahead of me at times."

"Don't apologize," Lilia replied. "I'll never truly hate him, no matter what he does, and that's just the way I am." A small, sad smile flashed briefly on her face. "I suppose that comes with being a mother."

Shadow nodded. "The two squirrels there," he said with a nod at the demons in question. "They still retain a part of themselves. They've taken forms that are quite similar to what they once were. Same species, even the same fur color. It means they're showing signs of acknowledging their original identies."

Lilia stiffened. "Those two are--"

"Yes, they are," Shadow said with a nod. "I believe they can be turned, as does a certain small helper of mine, who has made turning them her goal. She gave one clue to Flippy once, but he ignored it. 'The wolf and the serpent are my brothers'. Yes, I believe she can turn them." He gnawed his lip thoughtfully. "But I worry for the child; you know what child I'm talking about. She could be a danger, or be in danger; we know nothing about her."

"She is only two years old!" Lilia defended the child in question emphatically. "We know she has a new demon inside of her, but like you said, we know nothing! Neither of them have been put to any test at all. Not all demons are bad; isn't Ruby proof of that?"

Shadow did not reply, and his companion narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "You know something, Shadow," she said shrewdly. "Something you're not telling me. You have kept silent about something ever since you came back from the Crossroads, eleven years ago."

"I will tell you when I see fit," Shadow said sharply. "And no earlier. No one can force me or anyone to say what they do not wish to say."

"I apologize," Lilia said, ashamed. "I'm just..." There was no need to finish the thought; the Spirit Guide understood.

The two of them were silent for a moment, before Shadow spoke again. "This is getting serious. Sparky's-- or rather, _Kraken's_ followers will only grow in number, and they will not only be demons. I fear we may have to take... _certain_ measures in order to aide our friends who still walk among the living."

Lilia jerked her head up at him. "Do you mean..."

"Yes," Shadow affirmed grimly. "We may have to send one of our own down."

"But... they'll be trapped!" Lilia protested. "We can't do anything against that curse! The only way to really send them back is to give them life again, and if we do that, whoever goes will be trapped in that world... possibly forever."

"It will be a sacrifice," Shadow conceded. "I don't know if we'll even find someone to volunteer, and I will never press anyone to do this."

"I will."

It was not Lilia who had spoken. Another spirit strode boldly up to the two angels with determination emanating from him like smoke from a torch. Shadow let out a sigh.

"I thought you might be the one to volunteer, Ivan," the ermine said gravely. "You must consider the consequences."

But there was no trace of doubt in Ivan's glinting eyes. "I'm aware of the consequences, my lord," Ivan replied resolutely. "You have to understand how strongly I feel about this. And you do, I know you do." His eyes darkened. "I have a score to settle with a certain family member of mine."

Shadow stared at him long and hard. "I can see there's no changing your mind, but this will take a lot of time. There well be plenty of time for you to have second thoughts."

"I won't."

Lilia opened her mouth to protest. "But... Ivan, you're all I have--"

Ivan turned, his bright blue eyes meeting hers. "I have to do this, Mom."

* * *

**Heeeere's the sequel! HO-YAH! So anyway, this happens about nine years after the epilogue, and there won't be any time gaps between this prologue and the first chapter. OOH this is so exciting! I love this fic! And if you didn't get it, Lilia is the same bear who helped Lucky back in Chapter 18 of Call of Cthulhu. And for those of you who are not complete Norse Mythology nerds like me, Fenris and Jormungand are a gigantic wolf and an even gigantic-er snake. (The 'J' in Jormungand is pronounced with a 'Y' sound.)**

**Also, the "blood has spilled blood" thing in the summary is not owned by yours truly, it is owned by Kate Cary, Cherith Baldry, and Victoria Holmes (known collectively as Erin Hunter), the geniuses behind the Warriors book series. It means that family members (or "blood") have killed. If you've never read Warriors, you don't know what you're missing.**

**At your disposal (sort of),**

**Adderstar of ValorClan**


	2. Chapter 2

"IT'S MINE!"

"I SAW IT FIRST, SPLASH!"

Flippy's eyes snapped open, and he glanced over at the clock. _Four... freaking... thirty... on a Saturday for God's sake!_

There was a loud bump as Flaky, caught in the middle of a deep sleep by the yelling, fell off the bed. Flippy leaned over to make sure she wasn't hurt. "You okay, Flaky?"

The porcupine staggered up, blinking sleep out of her eyes. "I'm fine," she muttered darkly as she made her way out of the room. "But I know two certain children who won't be if they can't think of a reasonable explanation for waking me up at this ungodly hour."

Flippy let out a sigh as he dragged himself to the bathroom and splashed cold water on his face while Flaky went in to investigate their nine-year-old sons' antics. Bleary-eyed, he blinked at his reflection. For a split second, a tinge of gray appeared in his fur, but then it was gone.

"I must be tired," he told himself. "Either that, or the kids are actually making me age. Wouldn't be surprised."

Flaky came in, displaying a frazzled look that did not come with getting up early in the morning. "I managed to chase them back to bed," she announced. "Spiker and Splash were up playing video games again, and they were fighting over--"

"Do I really want to know?"

"Probably not," she told him. "I looked in on Itch and Needles, and they both seemed okay."

"That's good," Flippy replied. The two of them went back to bed and waited for sleep to return.

"You know," Flippy said after a few minutes. "It's been nine years since Spiker and Splash were born, and I'm still getting used to being a dad."

Flaky didn't answer; she was already fast asleep. Turning his head slightly, Flippy smiled tenderly at her. His drooping eyelids closed, and he slept.

Someone tugged at his paw, waking him up. Flippy rubbed his eyes and turned on the lamp. "Needles? Honey, what's wrong?"

"Had a bad dweam, Daddy," his two-year-old daughter replied, blinking up at him. "C'n I sleep wiv you?"

Flippy smiled at her. Other than her long eyelashes and the pale green fur on her stomach, his youngest child looked just like her mother. Well, almost. "Of course, Needles." He forced down the unease that always gripped him whenever he looked at his daughter as Needles climbed onto the bed and curled up next to him. He stroked the softer quills on her head and turned out the lamp. But even without the light, he could still see his daughter's unnerving blue eyes.

* * *

"Hey look, it's the little Christmas freaks!"

Spiker winced, feeling his quills bristle. Beside him, Splash spun around and whirled his tail threateningly.

"What was that?" he snapped, facing the two insulting muskrats. "I thought I just heard you two asking for a couple of quills up your noses. I'm perfectly happy to deliver."

Spiker turned around and glowered at Chigger and Scabies, the muskrat brothers who seemed to enjoy tormenting the "hybrids".

Next to him, his best friend Marty nudged him. "Ignore them, Spiker," he advised. "If you react like that, it just encourages them."

"Not everyone had an I'm-rubber-you're-glue personality, Boomer," Spiker told him, using the cat-weasel's nickname (short for "Boomerang").

Boomer swished his bushy tail moodily. He had a thin, lean appearance, but all in all he was pretty tough for a seven-year-old. He had pointed ears and black fur like his mother, but the fur on his chest was brown. Unlike his older brother Jake, he was very resilient and willing to forgive. But, like most people, he had no respect whatsoever for bullies.

Itch hid behind Spiker, which was standard behavior for him. The youngest of his brothers, he was the only one who didn't have quills, and the only one who had inherited his mother's dandruff.

Sneering at the second smallest bearcupine, Scabies laughed and cracked his naked tail like a whip. Itch flinched, dislodging several dandruff flakes from his red fur. Spiker noticed this and approached the jeering muskrat aggressively. Satisfaction filled him when both bullies took a step backwards. Clearly they hadn't forgotten that he'd punched the living daylights out of both of them when they tried beating him up once before. (The only other person ever able to do this was Jake. They'd learned to leave him alone much earlier.)

"Have you been bothering my brother?" Spiker's quills were standing on end; he looked like a red and green sea urchin with eyes and teeth.

Scabies, or Scab as most called him, continued to sneer. "Itch," he said in an almost kind voice that did not match his expression, "Have I ever bothered you? Has Chig ever bothered you?"

Itch did not verbally reply, but shook his head vigorously. It didn't take a genius to know he was lying.

A quill shot out of Splash's tail like an arrow shot from a bow, thudding into the trunk of a tree and burying half its length into the wood. Both muskrats froze; Splash was known for his ability to fire quills from his tail, but they often simply shot out when he was particularly angry. Normally, the angrier he was, the faster it flew.

The bearcupine waved his tail threateningly. "Next one goes right down Chig's throat." Within seconds, there was no sign of either muskrat.

Still troubled, Spiker turned to Itch. "You know, Itch, if they ever bug you, just tell us." His younger brother ducked his head and ran, leaving only a small pile of dandruff dust.

Boomer chewed his lip worriedly. "I haven't heard him talk all day," he commented.

"Same here," Splash said. "He's been really jumpy for the past couple of weeks, and he'll only talk with nods or shrugs."

"I'll try talking to him," Boomer volunteered. "I'm closer to his age." The cat-weasel trotted off.

"Hey, wait for me, I'm his brother!" Splash called, dashing after him.

Spiker's attention was averted by a high-pitched voice, followed by frantic barking. Spiker spun around.

His two-year-old little sister had a gray and white dog in a tight head lock. The dog had its jaws clamped around her favorite toy, a small plastic sword. Needles was screeching at it.

"Give et back, ya s'upid dog!"

"Needles!" Spiker ran over and attempted to pry his sister off the dog. When that didn't work, he pulled the toy out of the dog's mouth. Several of the dog's teeth came with it. Needles immediately released the whimpering animal and grabbed for it. Spiker held it as high as he could, out of her reach.

"Before I give this back to you, promise you won't fight any more dogs. This is the third one this week, and I think you really hurt him." It was true; unlike the other dogs, which had simply run off upon being released, this own was lying on its side and panting.

"'Kay, I won' fight no more dogs," Needles said. "Now gimme back my sowd, pleeze." Spiker handed it to her before kneeling beside the dog.

"Here, boy," he said softly. The dog's ears pricked up, and Spiker whistled softly.

The dog sprang to its paws. Its right eye squinted into a slit, and its right eye burned viciously. With a malicious snarl, and a look on its face that was something very close to a twisted grin, it leaped on him.

Spiker screamed. The berserk gray dog bit down hard on his arm and was shaking vigorously. Blinded by pain and terror, Spiker tore off one of his own quills and raised it to defend himself, but clearly the dog had other ideas. Before Spiker could make any move, it went straight for his neck.

With most of its teeth gone, the dog was unable to draw blood, but its jaws closed tightly around his throat and prevented him from breathing. Spiker retched, struggling furiously and fighting for breath, but he couldn't shake the animal off. Darkness began to take over.

There was a flash of red fur and bristling quills, and Needles leaped on the animal. She sank her teeth into the back of the dog's neck until the canine howled. In doing so, it released Spiker, who was able to crawl away. The bearcupine held his throat, gasping and wheezing heavily, until he saw that the dog had gone back to normal. Bright blue eyes blazing with anger, Needles released it.

Spiker blinked; in his half-conscious state, he must have been hallucinating. On either sight of her bared front teeth were longer, sharper canines, with blood still dripping from them. The darkness that was still obscuring Spiker's vision made her fur appear black.

Still gulping air in frantically, Spiker blinked several times and shook his head to clear it. When he looked at Needles again, he saw that the sharp eyeteeth were gone, and her fur was bright red again, but he still felt light-headed and dazed.

Someone was running up behind him. Whoever it was knelt beside him and hugged him warmly. Through dazed eyes, Spiker could just make out green and brown camouflage.

"D...dad?"

"Spiker, are you okay?" He'd never heard his dad sound so scared.

The bearcupine's breathing eased, but his heart continued to pound frantically. "I'm... okay," he managed to say. "Where's the dog?"

Suddenly Splash was there. "Spiker! I saw what happened from farther off and..." He crouched by the dog. "Wow, that adorable looking dog did that?" He whistled in amazement.

Big mistake. Spiker was fully conscious now, enough to see the dog turn vicious again. Splash swung at it with his tail, but the dog leaped back before flinging itself at him.

Lucky was on the scene in a flash. With a swipe of her paw, she smacked the dog away and chased it off. "Stay away from those things," she advised. "They're nothing but trouble."

"And whatever you do, don't whistle around them," a new voice called out. "It sets them off." Cub approached them with his paws stuffed in his jeans pockets. "I should know; I got attacked by one of those things when I was, like, two."

"You sure you're okay, Spiker?" Flippy asked.

"I'm fine, Dad," Spiker replied, rising to his feet. "I was lucky, I guess. The stupid animal didn't have any teeth."

Lucky stared after the dog, her eyes narrowing. "Something wrong, Lucky?" Flippy asked.

"What? Oh, no... I was just thinking... well... I might have an idea as to where those dogs actually come from." The cat shrugged. "I dunno. I'd have to ask Shifty and Lifty."

Spiker shook himself. "Well, maybe some Diablo II will help keep my mind off things.

Flippy rolled his eyes. "That's Spiker; anything reminds him of video games, he'd forget a tornado ripping through town." He clapped his son on the shoulder. "You'll be fine."

Both bearcupines trotted off, but Needles remained, staring off into the distance through blue eyes that seemed to be... glowing.

* * *

**Oh, boy. If I'm not mistaken, we've got a mini-Cthulhu fast approaching. And yes, Spiker loves his video games. Yayz. Sorry if I make you wait. Writers block is being particularly harsh to me with this fic.**

**At your disposal (sort of),**

**Adderstar of ValorClan**


	3. Chapter 3

Flippy watched his kids play from a distance. Yesterday's incident with the dog was still fresh in his mind, and though he didn't want to be overprotective, he couldn't shake off the fear that still hovered around him.

"You know, maybe Spiker isn't the only one you should be worrying for."

The familiar voice jerked Flippy out of his thoughts. "Er... what? Oh, hey, Teddy."

His younger brother was still quite small in stature and large in eyes, but he had matured a great deal. "Hey, Flippy. But like I said, Spiker isn't... well, he's not the one _I'm_ worrying about right now."

"What do you mean?"

"Itch seems to be a bit jumpier than usual, don't you think?" It was not a question. "And he hasn't been talking."

"You know, come to think of it, you're right," Flippy agreed, staring around. "Where is Itch, by the way?"

Teddy shrugged. "Last I saw him, he was in his room. He's been really quiet for the past week or so. Not even Splash and Boomer can get him to say anything." He blinked meaningfully. "You might want to try talking to him."

"Yeah, I think I will," Flippy said, turning to leave.

The bear went into his house and was just passing the bathroom when a strange feeling made the fur on the back of his neck stand on end. Closing his eyes, he let out a sigh of pure hopelessness. _No, not now. Any time but now. Not after eleven years. Not when I have kids to think about._

"Geez, go easy on the angst," a familiar voice jeered. But it wasn't the husky, low-pitched voice that he had been used to hearing since the war. No, it was the voice he had heard in only one instance in his life, at a normal pitch, but still scalding with malice. He turned to the mirror, knowing exactly what he would see.

It was not his reflection that stared back at him. The bear in the mirror wore dark gray hooded sweatshirt rather than Flippy's camouflage army jacket, and foggy gray fur framed his glinting blue eyes. The scarring over his left eye was still as distinct as ever. The demon was smiling with cold amusement; his pointed eyeteeth showed even when his mouth was closed.

Flippy met his eyes steadily and kept his voice even. "So, you've decided to start looking like yourself for a change?" he said calmly. "That's good. I was about to consider discussing copyright issues."

The demon's lips parted, but his sharp teeth remained clenched in what was half a grin and half a grimace. "Why yes," he replied coolly. "I was simply using your shape, Flippy, and then in our little experience in Crossroads, I realized... I actually wasn't ugly as hell."

"You should talk," Flippy retorted, forcing himself to remain even-tempered and nonchalant. "Lucky did a good job on you."

"And I did a good job on her, as well," Cthulhu returned. It was true, though maybe not the word "good"; the demon had managed to copy the wound Lucky had inflicted, only with a dagger rather than claws. Now, the cat was scarred very similarly to how he was.

"The two muskrats know, by the way," the demon added as an afterthought. "I'm not simply confined to your mind, you know. I've been around a couple of times, listening around. Those two muskrats? They know all about me."

"Wh-what?"

"Oh, don't worry, they don't believe that much of it," Cthulhu said with a smile. "They don't believe in demons and all that, but they do believe the part about you slaughtering people. They hate you for it, but not for the reasons you might expect. They think you should just, quote un-quote, 'cut the crap and kill people without dressing it up'. It's a killer on my self-esteem, I must say." He paused to chuckle. "And those muskrats... hah... they're almost as sadistic as I am. But they'll never amount to anything but bullies."

Flippy glared at him. "Kind of like you, I guess. If you're not 'confined' to me, then why won't you just leave me alone?"

"Because it is _so_ fun to screw with you," the demon replied. "But I'm getting the feeling that your kids might be exposed to a little... oh, I dunno... harsh treatment?"

In Flippy's ears, he could hear an underlying message in Cthulhu's threatening words. His eyes burned into the demon's. "I swear, Cthulhu, if you even try hurt my kids, I will--"

"What makes you think I'll even touch them?" Cthulhu's brittle stare immediately lost its cold glint, and for a moment his blue eyes looked as wide and innocent as a newborn infant's.

"Yeah," Flippy spat. "I forgot, you'll be using me to do it."

Cthulhu's wide eyes became mocking. "You really don't know at all what I'm talking about, do you? But I guess I'll be using your blindness to my own advantage."

"What?" Flippy said suspiciously.

"Oh, nothing too harmful," There was no mirth in the demon's laugh, only malice. "Hopefully, it won't hurt anyone who doesn't deserve it." He paused, his blue eyes narrowing again. "They'll hate you, you know."

"What are you talking about?"

"Your precious brats know all about us demons, but you haven't told them about _me._" Cthulhu's voice held a mocking sing-song tone. "I'll make sure they find out, Flippy, and when they do, they'll hate you. Do you think they'll want to be around you if they know you're harboring a demon?"

Flippy was unable to stand it any longer. Turning his back on the jeering face of his old enemy, he stalked out of the room. Talking to Itch was completely forgotten now.

In his haste and anxiety, he had failed to see Needles. But she had seen everything. The little bearcupine was completely in the dark about what was going on, but she knew that it could be nothing good. She could still see the gray bear in the mirror, and she could practically read the ill intent on his face. Quietly she crept forward until he turned his head and smiled down at her.

"Good job on that dog, by the way."

Needles was taken aback by this statement. She tried to think of something to say, but all that came out was, "Wazzen' me."

The creature's grin widened. "You sound so sure of that."

There was a clatter of quills as a shudder ran through Needles. "I din't do it!" she said, shaking her head wildly. "I dunno 'oo did it!"

Turning, she fled into the room she shared with Itch. She paused at the doorway, blue eyes narrowing worriedly. Her brother was no longer there. Where was he? Should she do anything about it?

_What? Are you actually asking that question?_ Needles flinched. There it was again, that voice. The same one that had been screaming in her head when the gray and white dog attacked Spiker. Then the darkness had come, and in her next conscious moment she found herself standing over a whimpering, bleeding dog.

_Go 'way. Leeme 'lone._

_'Fraid I can't do that._ The voice hardened. _Go after him. He's your brother!_

Needles surrendered to the strange voice and took off, out the door, and down the street in search of her brother. The little bearcupine paused, pondering the situation. Chig and Scab were bullies; that was obvious. All fists, no guts. If they were going to beat up on Itch, they'd probably do it somewhere secluded. Her heart twisted at the thought. Sometimes she wondered if Itch could be considered her little brother, rather than her his little sister. All four bearcupines looked out for each other, and she didn't want to stand by and let her brother get hurt for no good reason.

_Then stop angsting over it and find him!_ The voice broke through her thoughts._ Think, girl! Go behind houses!_

This made perfect sense to Needles, so she trotted in between the little buildings and stores, searching carefully for any sign of her brother. Sure enough, the sound of laughter reached her ears. Cautiously, she crept toward the noise, but froze when she heard fearful whimpering mingle with the laughing. Clearly, her strange helper had not been wrong, nor had it played her badly.

_Of course I didn't!_ the voice snapped irritably. _Why would I? Answer me truthfully, sweetie, are you a dunce? That would be perfect, just _perfect,_ if I was lucky enough to be born stuck with a complete dunce._

Needles pondered the wall next to her, seriously considering banging her head on it, before the voice politely requested against it. _Can you not do that, please__? Won't do you any good, sweetie. Are you gonna act on this or not?_

The small bearcupine set her jaw grimly. Throwing caution to the winds, she strode boldly out into the open view of whoever was responsible for the noise. When greeted by the scene, her nerve failed her.

Chig and Scab, the two muskrat bullies, held a barely struggling Itch between them. He looked only half-conscious as they lifted him up and tossed him unceremoniously into a dumpster. Then they caught sight of her.

Needles froze, staring nervously up at the much-larger muskrats. She forced herself to stop trembling as Scab thrust his thick-whiskered face up to hers. His teeth snapped shut, and in spite of herself she jumped.

_Don't just stand there! _The voice was yelling at her. _Fight! Show them two-year-olds are not to be toyed with! _Needles wanted to; she truly did, but fear proved the best of her. Then the voice tried another tactic. _Needles,_ it (though it might have been she) said urgently. _Let me take over. I can fight them. I may even get them to stop bothering Itch. Let me take over!_

_No,_ Needles refused as Scab turned away with an unpleasant laugh. _I c'n tell Daddy. He'll know wot t'do. Daddy al'ays knows wot t'do._

Chig and Scab had left, and Needles climbed up the side of the Dumpster to try and help her brother out. The voice spoke to her again, its voice laden with disappointment. _You do that, sweetie. And then you'll wish you'd listened to me._

* * *

Of course, Needles reported what she had seen to Flippy. Itch locked himself in his room and silently refused to let anyone in. That is, until Spiker tried his luck.

"C'mon, Itch, lemme in," the bearcupine wheedled. "You can't stay in here forever." There was no reply from his little brother's room. Spiker let out a sigh and decided to use his old trick. Plucking a quill, he stuck it into the keyhole and twisted. There was a satisfying click, and Spiker opened the door.

_Fwash! Thunk!_ "ITCH!" Spiker made a rather hilarious sight, standing in the doorway with a bucket over his head and water dripping down him. "You rigged the door, didn't you?" Spiker removed the bucket from his head and wrung water out of his saturated T-shirt. As soon as he saw his brother, he immediately regretted yelling.

Itch sat on his bed, hugging his knees to his chest and staring at his feet. Nervously he toyed with the end of the orange scarf he always wore.

"Itch, are you okay?" Mentally, Spiker kicked himself. What kind of question was that? In any case, it provoked no response whatsoever from Itch. With a sigh, Spiker sat down next to him.

"Well, Needles saw the whole thing and told Dad," Spiker said, trying to be comforting. It had the opposite effect. Instead of being consoled, Itch tensed up. "Don't worry, Itch. Dad'll talk to them, and everything will get straightened out."

Then Itch spoke, for the first time in a week. "N-n-no! He c-can't s-say a-a-anything!"

"Why not?"

"Th-they said they'd j-just d-d-do it m-more if that h-happened!" Itch stammered uncontrollably.

"Itch, why were they picking on you?" Spiker asked. Itch turned his head away, but Spiker was not to be ignored. Placing his paw firmly on the top of his brother's head, he turned Itch's face until they were seeing eye to eye.

Itch averted his gaze but answered his brother's question. "B-b-because you b-beat th-them up, a-a-a-and..." His voice trailed off.

"And?"

"I-I didn't u-understand w-what they w-were say-saying," Itch said with a shrug. "S-s-something about D-dad and th-that d-d-demons don't e-exist."

"Demons do exist," Spiker said, surprised. "Isn't Ruby proof of that?"

"Th-they don't th-think so," Itch said, shrugging again.

"What does Dad have to do with it?"

Itch shrugged for a third time, but this time it was more of an I-don't-know shrug. Spiker peered at him. "Itch, why are you stuttering?"

"D-d-dunno. C-can't st-stop."

Spiker took his paw off of Itch's head and stared at him. "They really hurt you, didn't they?" Instead of answering, Itch's eyes welled up with tears. Heart melting, Spiker gave his little brother a hug, unaware that his father had often done the same thing with his own brother, when he was only a few years older.

* * *

**So I decided to build a little more on Needles' character, as well as her relationship with her "inner demon". I was referring to that crime-drama TV show _Bones_ when I had the voice addressing Needles as "sweetie", the same way Angela addresses Dr. Brennan. If you've never seen the show, please do. It's an awesome show.**

**At your disposal (sort of),**

**Adderstar of ValorClan**


	4. Chapter 4

**REVIEW PLEASE!! Seriously, I feed on reviews like a parasitic leech... wait, that came out wrong. whatever.**

* * *

"This isn't a good idea, Flippy."

Flippy stared at the cat, shocked. "What do you mean? Those muskrats are bullying my kid. What do you expect me to do?"

"I can't answer that," Lucky replied. "But I've learned that there's no talking to bullies. If you tell them not to do something, they'll just keep doing it, maybe even worse. Look, I know Chig and Scab are the worst kids around. Did you hear they punched Winchester in the gut the other day? It's because they don't believe in demons and-- something wrong?"

Flippy bit his lip, remembering what Cthulhu had told him earlier. But, not wanting to worry his friend by telling her Cthulhu had reappeared after eleven years, he kept his mouth shut. "No, Lucky. I'm listening."

"Well anyway, I know they're bad kids," Lucky continued. "But talking to them will get you no where. If anything, you'll be going backwards."

"I have to try," Flippy said with a helpless shrug. "He's my son."

_If you'd like, I could just kill them,_ a familiar voice said in his mind, but he pointedly ignored it. _No really! Wouldn't that solve everything?_

_Shut UP, Cthulhu!_

Lucky was staring at him with an odd look on her face. Flippy blinked. "What?"

"You have that look on your face again," she said.

"What look?"

"You know," Lucky said shrewdly. "That tight, tense look you always have whenever you're talking to Cthulhu. I'll ask again, and if you say no then I'll drop it. Is something wrong?"

Flippy opened his mouth to deny it, but then he realized it wouldn't get him anywhere. The only time Lucky ever conceded during an argument was when she knew she was right. He sighed. "Cthulhu was talking to me today," he told her.

The cat didn't seem that surprised, but her green eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "What'd he say?"

"Well, he's taken to looking like himself," Flippy said. "You know, the way he actually looks, that we saw in Crossroads. But he told me that the muskrats knew about him, but didn't believe."

"That's understandable," Lucky commented. "They clearly don't believe in demons, even though Ruby's living proof."

"They think I'm just making up stories about demons to excuse my rampages, which I have actually not suffered from for quite a long time now." Flippy sighed. "Anyway, now you know."

"Does anyone else?'

"No."

Lucky's green eyes bore into his. "You'll have to tell them eventually," she told him. "You're kids have to know who their dad is."

"I can't tell them!" Flippy protested. "They're just kids! They're not ready for that kind of burden!" He felt tears welling up in his eyes, but forced them down. "I'm their dad, Lucky. They just... they can't know I'm..." He sighed. "I'm just trying to protect them."

"You may not have to..." Lucky murmured, more to herself than to him.

Flippy hadn't quite heard her. "What'd you say?"

"What? Oh, I was just saying you may not have to," Lucky replied. "Your kids are tough, Flippy. But you're not protecting anyone by keeping this a secret. If there's anything a kid hates, it's when a parent keeps secrets."

"Oh? And what about your kids?"

"I told my kids about my bad luck problem," Lucky informed him, hefting the Idol that she always carried with her. Despite the fact that her bad luck was no longer a problem, Lucky still had a clover tucked behind her ear and a lucky blue stone around her neck. (Force of habit, she said.) "And the only reason why they don't know about you is because I don't want Jake finding about before Spiker does. If that happens, Jake will rub his face in it. And I tell you, I do not want that happening." She shrugged. "Do what you want about your kids, Flippy. I'm just giving you advice."

"And I thank you for it," Flippy said sincerely.

Lucky shrugged and walked away. "What are best friends for?"

* * *

Crouching on her bed, Needles fought back tears. Thanks to her complete inability to act, Itch was now refusing to come out of his room at all. How could she be so short-sighted and stupid?

_It's not too late,_ the voice told her patiently.

"Yeah it is," she said out loud.

_No, it's not. Itch isn't going to stay in his room forever, and you'll then get perfect incentive to attack those idiot muskrats._

"But I don' wanna hurt 'em..."

_Sweetie, sometimes you gotta do what ya gotta do. Maybe I'm being a little biased, but I'm serious. If you don't warn them off in one way or another, they might just finish your brother off when he's done aging-- darnit, aging? Why does it have to make us sound like an alcoholic drink or something?_

In spite of herself, Needles laughed.

_That's the spirit. I think your dad's back from his little parley with the enemy. Why don't we go see how it went?_

Needles hopped off her bed and trotted over to where her father was walking in through the door. He looked extremely worried when he looked at Flaky. "You know something, Flaky? Lucky was right. I think I just made everything worse."

Flaky rested her paw on his shoulder. "You did what you could, Flippy. But I think Spiker or Splash need to watch Itch for a while. If he ever goes outside again."

As if on cue, Itch crept cautiously out from the hallway at Splash's side. The older bearcupine looked at his parents meaningfully. "We're going to go outside for a little while." Without another word, the two of them left.

Flippy stared after them. "Think I should follow them?"

Flaky shook her head. "I don't want our children growing up dependent on their parents," she said. "We have to be careful not to be overprotective."

Flippy was silent for a moment, staring at a mirror across the room. After a moment, he turned to Flaky. "We're going to have to tell them about... you know."

The porcupine looked surprised. "What? Why now?" When Flippy didn't answer, she repeated herself. "Flippy, why are you bringing this up now?" Flippy turned his head and let out a sigh, but Flaky would not be ignored. "Flippy."

Glancing at Needles, Flippy shrugged and sighed again. "I saw him again, in that mirror right there."

Flaky closed her eyes. "Flippy, why didn't you tell me?"

"I--"

"No, let me guess. You didn't want to worry me. Well I'm worried now." She shot a glance at Needles and lowered her voice to a whisper, but the toddler still heard her. "What if he goes after the children?"

"I don't know."

Needles had had enough of the whispering. She marched forward boldly. "Whatcha whispawin' about, Daddy?"

Her father glanced at Flaky for help, but the porcupine simply crossed her arms and shrugged.

With a grimace of anger, Needles pushed past both her parents and left the house. She didn't like the way her quills were prickling.

Needles was about five minutes away from home when the shouting started, and she broke into a full-out sprint. She could practically smell muskrat in the air, and rage filled her like liquid fire.

_That's the spirit, sweetie. But you're not going to hog all the fun, are you? Can I come out?_

The little bearcupine bit her lip before nodding curtly. _Fine. But not 'til we get dere._

_Suit yourself. I'm a patient person._

Needles stopped, and the scene before her made her stomach burn with anger. Her older brother Splash was lying on the ground with a dazed look on his face, and Itch was curled up in a fetal position while Chig and Scab kicked at him viciously. Hatred welled up in her.

* * *

A high-pitched snarl reached Splash's ears, causing him to look up. Needles was standing there, and changing before their eyes. Her fur was darkening to a dark gray color, and her quills were turning pitch-black. Two sharp-white fangs sprouted from her mouth, one on either side of her bared incisors, and her left paw hardened and curled into four razor-keen claws. The tips of her quills remained red, as did all four of her paws.

Needles lashed her tail-- she had a _tail._ It was long and furry, with a ball of outward-pointing black quills at the end, like a flail. She retained her small size, and blue dominated her narrowed eyes, leaving no trace of black or white.

Fear and confusion gripped Splash like an icy claw. Needles had started to speak, but it was clearly not her voice. The voice was childishly high-pitched and clearly female, but it scalded with disgusted rage.

"What's the matter, candy-stealers?" Needles taunted. "Why don't ya fight someone who'll fight back?"

Chig attempted to put on an aggressive front, but the challenging blue eyes foiled him. Rather than rise to the bait, he began to babble and stutter like a complete moron.

"Er...d...wuh..."

Needles--was it even Needles?-- laughed scornfully, curling her lip. "Looks like your brain's been fried, ratface. How about you, there?"

Scab looked from Needles to Chig. "Er... eh... uh...ah..."

"Keep going, you've almost got all the vowels," she baited him.

While this was going on, Itch tried to crawl away. Even with his fear, Scab seemed uwilling to let their quarry escape. He made a move to stop the bearcupine, which proved to be his own mistake.

Ripping one of her own quills out, Needles flung it at the muskrat like a throwing knife. The quill thudded into his paw, going right through. Scab paused and gasped in agony, and Needles took that chance to spring.

Splash was still too dazed to react. Scab had thrown a rock at him to knock him down before the two muskrats went for Itch, and his throbbing head still muddled him. He could only watch as Needles knocked Scab flat on his back and held her spiked tail tip inches away from his face.

"You're lucky I actually listen to Needles, rat, or you'd be dead," she hissed. Wait, so she wasn't Needles? Well, that much was pretty clear from the start. But then what was she? "I promised her I wouldn't kill you, but if I ever see you threatening her brother again, I'll be sure to break that promise and apologize later when you're barely even recognizable anymore."

Splash managed to clear his head of the fog, and he had truly never seen two muskrats run so fast. He saw the dark creature approach his downed brother, and instinctively he stood up and pointed his own tail at her.

The animal noticed this and stared at him. "I'm not going to hurt him," she said with a shrug. "Good lord, you're an ingrate. Whatever." The gray and black faded to red and green again, and Needles stood unsteadily on her own two feet. Splash stared at her, concerned, before she grinned brightly at him. "Wow, dat was neat!" Then she turned serious again. "You gonna tell Daddy?"

"Do you trust that... that... her?"

Needles seemed to consider this deeply before replying, "Yes."

Itch had wobbled unsteadily to his feet. He had seen the whole thing. "Th-th-then we wo-won't tell a so-soul!"

* * *

**Yeah! Needles, girl, you do some serious pwnage! PWNAGE! Well, it's not really Needles... but whatever! Once again, people, please review.**

**At your disposal (sort of),**

**Adderstar of ValorClan**


	5. Chapter 5

Over the course of two weeks, Flippy wrestled with indecision concerning whether to tell his children about Cthulhu. Itch, Needles, Splash, and Spiker (who had been filled in on what happened) drew up a detailed lie about Splash being the one to send Chig and Scab packing, as they didn't want to freak him out anymore than he wanted to scare them. Itch's stutter remained, and he recovered slowly from the torment he had gone through. Needles grew to trust the voice more and more.

Then one afternoon, everything changed once more. For better or for worse? As Hel would say, who can tell?

A fight broke out between the four bearcupines. This was not at all uncommon, but it was rather hectic and destructive.

Flaky threw herself flat as a dark red quill whizzed over her head. "SPLASH! WILL YOU PLEASE STOP--" Yelling at the top of their lungs, Itch and Spiker dashed into the room, darted over the couch, and took cover underneath the dinner table as Splash came bounding in, still firing off his quills. Needles followed closely behind him, screeching shrilly and aiming blows at her brother with a large wooden spoon. A lamp table overturned as Itch and Spiker thundered out of their hiding place.

_THUNK!_

The front door opened, just as a quill zipped by and thudded into the doorframe, inches away from Flippy's face. Splash covered his mouth with both paws when he realized how close he'd come to impaling him.

"Geez! I'm sorry, Dad..." His voice trailed off. Flippy was still staring, horror-struck, at the quill embedded in the wood.

Lucky shoved past Flippy and raced into the room, stopping between him and his family. A tremor ran through Flippy's entire body, and he gripped the doorframe.

"Dad, are you okay?" Spiker queried cautiously.

"Lucky, what's going on?" Itch asked her.

The black cat curled her tail around the Idol to keep her paws free. Throwing caution right out the window, she got right up in Flippy's face and shook him. "No," she said. "Flippy, listen to me. Fight him. Think of your kids!"

Flippy shoved her away. "No... run... It's happening again!"

Lucky backed away. "Spiker, Splash, Itch, and Needles," she hissed. "All of you, behind me.

"But..." Spiker started forward, only to be pulled back. Timid Itch hid behind Flaky as Flippy's eyes shrank and turned blue, and the familiar ragged scar appeared over his face.

"So, you're back, Cthulhu," Lucky said drily. "And I doubt you'd believe me if I said we missed you."

"I was 'back' about four years ago," Cthulhu replied carelessly. "I was just to lazy to make a big thing of it. But now I have a chance to say hi to the brats." He grinned wolfishly at the four of them.

Lucky tossed the Idol from paw to paw. "Yeah," she said threateningly. "We can play a little game of Catch, if you'd like."

"Mom, what's going on?" Spiker asked tensely. "What's wrong with Dad?"

"Tha's not Daddy," Needles said emphatically. She glanced at her brothers. "Doncha get it? Is like me."

"What?" Flaky and Lucky said in unison.

Needles looked guilty. "Shoulda toldja, I guess."

"Uh, hello?" Cthulhu called for their attention. "What am I, chopped liver?"

"No," Needles turned her head and met his eyes steadily. Flaky and Lucky stared as gray and black crept over her fur and quills. Her eyes were solid metallic blue, and her voice was no longer her own.

Needles continued in the unfamiliar voice. "...But you will be if you aren't careful." The tail, which had seemingly appeared out of thin air, swished from side to side. "Demon against demon, eh?"

Cthulhu blinked, surprised. Suddenly, he laughed. "Damn, I'm good!" Like a little kid who'd just finished a model airplane, he beamed. "I made that, you know."

Splash screwed up his courage to shoot back boldly, "She's gonna kill you, ya know."

"Who asked you, you little rat?" Cthulhu turned on him, snarling.

"Shut it, demon," Needles growled. Her spiked tail lashed. "What do you want?"

Cthulhu shrugged. "Well, I like to kill things, as two of you in this room know very well." He paused. "Well, three if you count the chump whose body I'm... eh... borrowing, shall we say?"

"Oh, that's nice," Needles said levelly. "I do, too, but only if they really deserve it, as three in this room know. Four if you count my _friend_, Needles, whose body I'm _sharing_. _Respecting_. I guess that's what sets us apart, um...?"

"You can call me Cthulhu. Most do."

The dark creature smiled, showing off her fangs. "I'd say it's a pleasure to meet you, but I'm not a liar." Her eyes glinted dangerously as her tail whipped out and knocked a scimitar down from the wall (an item from Flippy's collection). She caught it in her right paw, the one without the claws. "I don't have a name, 'cept for the one I gave myself. Call me Reaper." She twirled the sword skillfully, as though she'd been born with it in her paw, and her voice became venomous. "Listen, Cthulhu, I'll tell you something. If you're ever meaning to try and hurt anyone-- and I do mean anyone-- in Needles' family, you'll have to get past me first."

Cthulhu's face tightened in shock. Reaper flashed forward, catching him by surprise. Grabbing the dog tag chain in her claws, she yanked him down until they were seeing eye-to-eye. Then, taking her scimitar, she forced his head back as far as it would go. The tip tickled his throat, and she jabbed lightly until she was rewarded by a thin trickle of blood. Menace dripped from her voice like scalding water.

"Now that I have your full attention, dig the mud out of your ears and listen up, because if there's one thing I hate, it's having to repeat myself to idiots," Reaper hissed through bared teeth. "If you ever, _ever_ threaten anyone or anything Needles or this family values..." Her clenched fangs were inches from his face. "...I will make you _scream_ for death before I kill you. And even then, it will only be temporary." She released him roughly, and he stood back against the wall, wiping blood from his throat. Contemptuously, the small porcupine-demon turned away.

Cthulhu's eyes blazed with hate. "You little ingrate! I'm the only reason you actually exist!"

Reaper spun around, ripped out a quill, and flung it, all in the same fluid motion. The quill spun through the air like a dagger before burying itself into the wall, grazing the green fur on Cthulhu's face.

The smug look on Reaper's face told them that her miss had been deliberate. "C'est la vie, dillhole."

"I will control you," Cthulhu growled. "One way or another.

Lucky made a rude gesture with both paws. "You've been dismissed. In other other words, go back to R'lyeh, douchebag." But there was no trace of hatred in her voice; she sounded almost teasing.

Cthulhu raised an eyebrow at this, but allowed her to have the last word. Flippy collapsed to his knees, panting as if he'd just sprinted three miles. With concern on her face, Flaky rushed forward and knelt by him. "Flippy?"

The sound of her voice must have triggered something in his brain, for he shook his head suddenly. "Flaky! I-- he-- I didn't hurt anyone, did I?"

Flaky hugged him tightly. "It's all right, Flippy. He didn't hurt anyone."

Spiker crept forward cautiously. Fear and confusion were clear in his face. "D-dad? What happened?"

Getting to his feet, Flippy approached him and placed both paws on his son's shoulders. Spiker looked away, blinking back tears.

"Spiker," Flippy said firmly. "Spiker, _look at me._" The bearcupine obeyed and met his father's intense eyes. "Spiker... I would _never, never_ hurt you. I'd... I'd hurt myself before I'd even think of..." He couldn't go on.

Tears were brimming in his eyes as Spiker leaned forward into his father's hug. "I know, Dad. I know."

Splash was a little bolder, but apprehension was still clear. "I don't know who... or what... that was, but I know he wasn't you, Dad."

With his arms around both twins, Flippy looked up at Itch, who was hanging back. "Itch?" he said cautiously. "You know that, right?"

Itch stared at the ground as he spoke. Some strange emotion backed the fear in his voice, something that sounded a lot like... anger.

"I-I got b-b-beat up b-because of y- because of h-him," Itch mumbled. "Th-they knew, but I d-didn't Y-you nev-never s-said anything! An-anything!"

Flippy let go of Spiker and Splash and took a step toward his youngest son. "Itch, you have to understand... I just wanted... to protect you."

Itch jerked his head up sharply. Anger dominated his eyes, and his voice was scathing. "W-well it l-l-looks like y-you've done a g-great job of that! My l-little s-s-sister d-did b-better!" Yanking the orange scarf from around his neck, he threw it down and stalked out of the room.

"But Itch--"

The bearcupine did not slow as he snarled back over his shoulder, with no trace of a stutter in his voice.

"_I hate you._"

Flippy stopped as if he'd run into an invisible wall. His mouth opened, but no sound came out, and his eyes filled with deep hurt. Flaky moved to pursue Itch, but she was stopped by Reaper's spiked tail. The skittish porcupine let out a gasp and flinched, but Reaper made no move to attack her.

"Let him be," the small demon advised. The gray and black in her fur was replaced by red and green again, and the tail disappeared.

"I guess we gotta 'splain stuff now?" Needles said sheepishly.

At that moment, Flippy found his voice again. "I-I'll explain everything... later," he said haltingly. "I just... I gotta be alone right now." Flippy turned and left as quickly as he could, ducking his head so no one could see him crying.

* * *

As Shadow watched the events unfold, he let out a sigh of relief. Beside him, both Lilia and Ivan jerked their heads up.

"What are you happy about?" Ivan said hotly, abandoning reverence for the moment. "He's tearing their family apart!" Tears brimmed in his burning eyes.

"True," Shadow replied. "But we know now that Reaper has none of Cthulhu's evil. It's a sign that there is hope for all of them." His pale eyes shone from the ermine's half-hidden face as he repeated, "All of them. And don't worry about Itch. It may take a while, but he will eventually find it in himself to forgive Flippy. He was hurt very badly, and must vent his bitterness. Who knows how long his torment really lasted? We were only aware of it a little over a month ago. Torment and bullying... it is damaging to anyone, physically and emotionally. Both of you should know that."

"True..." Lilia conceded, but Ivan would not be pacified.

"How long will it be before I can go?" he asked impatiently. "By the time we're ready, it'd be too late! You gave Teddy life in no time at all!"

"Teddy was a completely different matter altogether," Shadow said sharply. "And you know it, Ivan."

Ivan met the Spirit Guide's pale amber gaze with challenging blue eyes for a moment before turning and storming away. Lilia turned to intercept him, but Shadow restrained her gently. Watching the young spirit's departure, he sighed.

Tears dripped down Lilia's face and splashed on the ground. "I don't know him anymore... I lost... _Cthulhu_... first, now I'm losing Ivan as well."

"You aren't losing Ivan," Shadow reassured her. "Ivan still wrestles with himself. He's still not sure if he did the right thing."

"I don't know why," Lilia said bitterly, wiping her eyes. "I love both of my sons, but I cannot doubt that Ivan was absolutely right--"

"But he isn't sure," Shadow informed her gently. "Put yourself in his place, Lilia. Cthulhu was, is, and always will be his twin brother. A bond like that... is not broken easily, I'll tell you."

Lilia looked at him curiously.

"He feels he did a terrible thing," Shadow continued. "For him, it probably was. In doing what he did, he destroyed a part of himself. He was looking his brother in the eyes when he spoke his last. The last thing either of them ever saw was each other. Rather fitting for twins, don't you think." His tone turned grim. "He killed his own brother, Lilia. And his own brother killed him back."

**Plot twist! PLOT TWIST! **

**At your disposal (sort of),**

**Adderstar of ValorClan**


	6. Chapter 6

**Kudos if you manage to spot the Shakespeare quote. ;)**

* * *

Not three hours later, Flippy was not the only one who needed solitude. Sobbing miserably, Needles wandered around in the deeper woods while making sure no one was around. Once she and her siblings had found out everything about Cthulhu, Lucky had told her own family. And not only that, she's told them about Reaper, too.

Needles sat down with her back against a tree as tears dripped from her blue eyes. Her family was in pieces, and Itch was refusing to even look at his father now. For the life of her, Needles could not understand why he was so angry at Flippy; he seemed more angry at him than at Chig or Scab. And if she'd thought things could not be any worse, Jake (who didn't get along with Spiker, but was still friendly around the bearcupines as a whole) seemed to hate both her and Flippy now, and Vance seemed to hate Reaper. Ari, the youngest cat-weasel, had apologized for her family members' actions, but some of the other children were avoiding her.

Needles felt a gentle paw on her shoulder, and she looked up to see Reaper standing beside her. Needles opened her mouth to voice her surprise, but Reaper held a curved white claw to her lips. "Don't talk to me," the demon advised. "Even though you're seeing me face-to-face, I'm still in your head." Reaper blinked at her, looking remorseful. "Listen, Needles, I'm really sorry. I know Jake hates... I mean, Jake's angry with you because of me."

"'Snot your fault," Needles replied, ignoring Reaper's suggestion to not speak. "Ev'ybody says 'uby's just a fluke, or that she didn't dese've to be a demon in da fust place."

"They're probably right," Reaper said with a shrug. "From what I've heard about her, she didn't."

"Mebbe she wasn' bad," Needles answered thoughtfully. "Mebbe she med bad mistakes?"

"You mean, like enough bad mistakes to get her into Hell?" Reaper said skeptically. Needles nodded, and her demon sneered. "If that's the way the universe works, then I hate this place already. Life's not a game, neither is death. We shouldn't be keeping score."

Needles let out a sigh and wiped her eyes. A twig snapped behind her, and she spun around.

Boomer sheepishly removed his foot from the broken stick. "Didn't mean to scare you," he said. "I was never one for stealth. Listen Needles, I just wanted to apologize for those things Jake said. I don't think he meant it, but he still shouldn't have said it."

The bearcupine looked at her feet, not knowing what to say.

"I just have one question," Boomer told her. "Just... do you trust her? This... Reaper, I mean."

Needles glanced at the demon beside her, who was staring at her intently. The little bearcupine turned her blue eyes to Boomer resolutely. "Wiv m'life."

"Well, I know that if you're one thing, you're smart, and if you trust Reaper, then so do I." Boomer held out a paw. "Deal?"

Reaper swiftly took control and glanced down at the paw Boomer had offered. His left. She looked at her own left paw, the one with the wicked curved claws, and smiled. "You might want to switch your paws there."

Surprised by the demons sudden appearance, Boomer held out his right paw, and Reaper shook it. "Deal," the demon said.

When Boomer had gone, Reaper appeared next to Needles again. The bearcupine glared at her reproachfully. "Ya said you'd ask if ya wanted contwol."

Chagrined, the demon smiled sheepishly. "Sorry about that, sweetie. I was going for the dramatic effect." Suddenly, she cocked her head. "Did you hear that?"

"What?"

"That twig snapping. From over there."

Needles looked. At first she couldn't see anything other than trees and bushes, but then an unfamiliar face peeked out from behind a dead snag. Black fur framed royal blue eyes, and a bushy tail curled over the newcomer's ears. It was a squirrel, completely black in color.

Upon seeing Needles, the squirrel scampered out. She didn't look any older than Spiker or Splash, but something about her suggested great age. Her nervousness was made clear by her shifting from foot to foot, and her darting eyes.

"Uh...hi," Needles greeted her. "I'm Needles."

The squirrel smiled. "Call me Hel. That is my name, one I chose. I chose it for my brothers, wolf and serpent." Her voice was thin and whispery, and she laughed softly. "Reaper. A name you chose. Yes?" To Needles' amazement, she was staring straight at Reaper.

"I thought no one could see you," Needles whispered.

"So did I," Reaper replied, mystified by this odd squirrel. "And... yeah, I chose it for myself. What's it to you?"

"Names, names," Hel replied, avoiding Reaper's question altogether. "What's in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet. Yes?"

Needles and Reaper looked at each other. "Uh... yes." Reaper replied for them both.

"What are names? Labels? Faces? Masks, sometimes." Her voice dropped to a secretive whisper at her last point. "Some choose names to hide. Yes?"

Both nodded dumbly, paying rapt attention to what the strange squirrel was saying. A shadow crossed Hel's face, and she chewed her lip. "To hide," she repeated. "The need to know and the fear of knowing. Oneself. If one fears knowing oneself..." Her voice trailed off, and she turned and vanished into the woods.

Needles and Reaper exchanged glances again. "Well that was bizarre," Reaper remarked.

* * *

-Two years later-

Echidna strode into the room where Kraken stood alone, staring off into space. "We need a new plan, Kraken," the demon-rabbit announced grimly. "That cat... she's on to something. She knows something we don't. Something vital I think it's about your--"

Kraken flashed forward and floored her with a blow to the face. "_How did you find out?_"

The dark blue rabbit stared up at her leader, looking as if she couldn't decide between anger and terror. "It's obvious," she answered. "Kind of hard to miss, really. And if you ask me, I don't think he'll ever come to our side. He clearly hates you." She paused, glancing at the scarring on the dog's face. "And what's more... the dog's we've been sending in have been absolutely useless. The little bearcupine brat just beats the living corn nuts out of them and sends them right back with their tails tucked firmly between their legs. We'd have to send them in droves in order to get everything done. That Reaper creature is rising in popularity, too. Not even that stupid cat-weasel hates her anymore."

Kraken turned away from her contemptuously, and she picked herself up slowly. "Idiot," he snarled. "I'm not sending dogs for any other purpose than testing her abilities. She would be useful on our side."

"Once again, Kraken, I highly doubt--"

"The demon is still young and impressionable, so it should be possible," Kraken interrupted.

"And Needles?" Echidna challenged. "She seems to me like she'd gladly break all ties with Reaper if she thought Reaper was turning to our side."

"Would it be any different than Flippy and Cthulhu?" Kraken asked rhetorically. "Actually, yes, it would."

Knowing her leader was winning the argument, Echidna wisely remained silent and waited for him to explain.

"There is a difference," Kraken said with a smile. "Reaper and Needles are directly linked. Even if they somehow became separate, they would still be one entity. Hurt one, you hurt both. Kill one, and you kill them both. So... if Reaper were to go one way, Needles would have no choice but to follow."

But Echidna countered this swiftly. "But if Reaper were to give up morals, she wouldn't come to us. Remember? It was _Cthulhu_ who brought her into existence. _His_ hatred she was born from. In the unlikely event that she would betray Needles, she would much more likely want to go to him."

Immediately she found herself against the wall with a gun pressed firmly to her throat. "Perhaps you would, too?"

Echidna sneered at him. "You're awfully quick to push girls against walls, Kraken. You done it many times before? Betcha were a perv in your time."

"We're all demons for our own reasons," Kraken snarled. "How about you, little miss witchcraft-practitioner?"

The rabbit snorted. "I was a sea mink when I was alive. You? You weren't even a real demon after you died."

"That was my own choice," Kraken snarled. "And look where it got me. I'm in charge of all of you." He released her scornfully and stormed away.

"Take my word for it," Echidna called after him mockingly. "Cthulhu ain't stupid. If he gets Reaper on his side, we'd better start worrying. Cthulhu's powerful enough; he'd have to be, to make something like Reaper. I know you're just as good as he is, getting better, but if Reaper joins Cthulhu... we won't stand a cockroach's chance against a shovel. He's probably trying to turn her right now."

Kraken whirled to face her. "I'll say it again, Echidna," he growled. "Maybe you'd be happier if you joined him."

"I ain't gonna try nothin'," Echidna said lazily. "I'm just sayin', don't be surprised if I switch on you if things start lookin' rough. I have full intentions to be on the winner's side. But like I said, he's prob'ly trying to turn her now."

* * *

Reaper was having her own problems. In her own dark corner of her host's mind, she crouched and snarled.

_Leave me the hell alone!_ She screamed silently, careful to keep Needles from hearing her.

_I created you, Reaper. Brutal killing is in your nature; you're like me. I know you. I probably know you better than Needles does._

_You... know... NOTHING! _Reaper's solid metallic blue eyes blazed. _I'm nothing like you!_

_Oh, but you are. Whether you like it or not, you are._

Of the two, Echidna had proved correct.

* * *

**Aaaaand the insane little black squirrely is BACK! Yes, my friends, if you'll recall Hel, she's back, and she's here to stay! Sorry for not updating earlier, but I've been a bit busy.**

**At your disposal (sort of),**

**Adderstar of ValorClan**


	7. Chapter 7

It was another one of "those days".

With a lethargic sigh, Flippy opened his front door and, trying not to limp, went in. Itch looked up and caught sight of him. Without a word, he tossed his book aside, got up, and left the room. He passed Needles as he went, and she paused from what she was doing to give him an angry glare. The eight-year-old bearcupine showed no sign of noticing.

"Flippy?" Flaky hurried past her son and came in when she saw the unsightly bruise on his face. "What on earth happened?"

"Cthulhu got the best of me when Lucky's kids were playing baseball," Flippy explained, touching his bloodied nose as lightly as he could. "You know Ari, her youngest?" (Flippy noticed Spiker perk up at the sound of Ari's name.) "Well, she hit a foul, and--"

"It hit you in the face?" Flaky interrupted dabbing at the blood with a damp towel.

"No, it juuuust missed me," Flippy said, with a pained grimace. "But then Cthulhu got out just as Ruby came by, and she decided to take out a little stress on him. Er, me. I dunno."

"Yep, Ari sure can hit a baseball," Spiker remarked with a grin. Splash snickered. "What?"

Splash smiled mockingly. "You liiiike her..."

"Shut up, Splash!" Spiker threw his video game controller at his twin brother's head before getting up and scooting out the door.

"I'll bet you five bucks he's going out to say hi to a certain pretty cat-weasel," Splash called over to Needles.

His sister shrugged, knowing he was probably right, before going back to contemplating her Rubix cube. For a four-year-old, she was smart, but that kind of thing came of having two minds.

Spiker had left the door open, and after a moment a red-eyed fox knocked and poked her head in. "Sorry about that, by the way, Flippy," she apologized. "I needed to beat something up, and you just happened to walk by and flip out."

"Can you stop saying, 'flip out'?" Flippy complained, scowling. "I really don't like people making that pun on my name. It's annoying."

Ruby rolled her eyes. "You know what else is annoying? Your daughter calling me either 'uby or Wuby."

Needles threw her Rubix cube down and glared at the fox. "Don' make fun o' my 'peech impedmint!"

Reaper, who was standing reflected in the mirror with an extremely bored expression, called over to the fox. "Hey, I know how you feel. With me it's always Weaper. You're not alone, fox."

Muttering darkly, Needles retrieved her cube and returned to fiddling with it.

"Ooh, I got a side!" Needles yelped excitedly, pausing to look at her Rubix cube. "Oh wait... cwap."

"Watch your language," Flippy admonished her.

Needles muttered something rebelliously, just as Splash picked up a glass of water and started drinking from it. Apparently he heard what he said. Water sprayed from his mouth.

"Where did you learn to say _that?_"

The youngest bearcupine saw her parents looking at her, and pointed to where Reaper was standing in the mirror. The demon scowled. "Tattletale."

"Flippy, your family is bizarre. And coming from a demon, that's saying something." With that said, Ruby left.

* * *

Spiker skateboarded to the park where the three cat-weasels were playing. "Hey, guys. Can I play?"

Boomer opened his mouth to say yes, but Jake beat him to it. "There's a difference between swinging a Wii game controller and swinging a real bat," the spotted cat-weasel said rudely. "Are you sure you won't black your other eye?"

Ari's dark fur bristled. Both she and Boomer hated the attitude Jake was developing, ever since he became an official teenager. Not even Cub was that bad.

Glaring at Jake, Spiker pawed the red ring around his eye. "Shut it, hyena boy."

"Can we please not start one of these?" Boomer broke in angrily, giving his older brother a sharp dig in the ribs. "Please!"

Jake smirked. "Yeah, it's bad enough your dad--"

"That's not Spiker's fault!" Ari snapped. All three of them turned to look at her, including Spiker. She reddened under her fur. "It's not." Her rounded ears were laid back, and the fur on her long tail was standing on end. The green eyes she'd inherited from her mother flickered red with anger. "You're just jealous because he beats you at every video game, Jake!"

Jake never argued with his little sister. With a shrug, he handed the bat to Spiker. "Sorry," he murmured reluctantly, heading into the outfield. Needles strode up to watch, tossing her Rubix cube from paw to paw.

Mouthing "thanks" to Ari, Spiker swung the bat experimentally several times. Cub, who was now fifteen years old, leaned against a tree with an unopened can of soda in his paw.

Spiker failed to notice his father until it was too late. Boomer pitched the ball, and the bearcupine struck it with a loud _CRACK!_

A swear word from Jake alerted him to Flippy's presence. "Dad!" Flippy's eyes were flickering to blue, and a jagged red scar was appearing on his face.

With the last bit of control he had left, Flippy managed to speak. "I guess it's just one of those days."

Cub was the closest to him. When Cthulhu turned to him, the teenager shook the soda can a couple of times before opening it and spraying the fizzy liquid in the demon's face. Surprised by this unusual means of attack, the demon retreated a few steps.

"Tell me, Cthulhu," Cub taunted lazily. "Is there any difference between demons and the stray dogs that keep raiding my trash cans?" He glanced at the half-empty can in his paw. "Same thing works on them."

Enraged, Cthulhu was about to reply when Jake's angry voice made him turn.

"Let go of my sister!"

A familiar brown and white dog had Ari by the scruff of her neck. The black cat-weasel stood stock-still, her eyes huge with terror. Off to the side, Spiker had a tense, frightened look on his face.

In a businesslike manner, the dog pulled out a gun and placed it against his captive's head. There was no trace of open malevolence in him, and his eyes were as wide and innocent as his voice. "I'm back. Did you miss me?"

Cthulhu glanced back at Cub and shrugged. "I guess the answer's no, then."

A yowl split the air. "HOT POTATO!" Something shiny and golden flashed in the sunlight, and the dog released Ari and leaped back to dodge the cursed Idol. Lucky bounded in swiftly and grabbed it just as a weed near it spontaneously withered and died. She faced the dog furiously.

"Sparky, you mangy, flea-ridden- what the hell happened to your face?"

Cthulhu raised a paw proudly. "That was me."

Lucky scrutinized it. "Very nice. Sandstone, was it?"

"It was a brick, actually," the demon replied.

"Close enough."

"Says you."

"Whatever," Lucky said with a dismissive wave of her paw before turning back to the dog.

"So you haven't heard," the dog said cheerfully, as if remarking upon the weather. "It's not Sparky anymore. I go by Kraken now."

Lucky's eyes narrowed. "What?"

"You never saw it did you?" Kraken's eyes were bright and smiling. "Haha, I'm dead! Or rather, I was."

Lucky shot a questioning glance over to Cthulhu, who looked just as surprised. "You're a demon?" he said disbelievingly.

"Not 'til lately," Kraken said innocently. "I've... been working on it." A bright smile lit up his ravaged face. "I've got something fun planned."

"So do I," a familiar voice said, matching Kraken's jovial mood. Reaper joined Lucky with a flick of her spiked tail. "It involves cramming the end of my tail down your throat, impaling your intestines, and slowly pulling them out through your nostrils."

Lucky stared at her. "Through his nostrils? How're you going to do that?"

"Oh, I'll find a way," Reaper replied with a wolfish sneer at the demon dog.

Kraken's smile never left his face. He looked thoughtful. "I like you, Reaper. I could do with a demon like you on my side."

"Well, then I wish you luck in finding one," Reaper returned in a falsely friendly way. "If you're trying to flatter me into following you, I think you can forget it. Ask Cthulhu there. He's been failing for two years, and he _still_ won't shut up." She directed her last comment to Cthulhu. "I salute you for your perseverance, though," she added, raising her middle claw to the demon-bear. Only to see that he was no longer there.

"Very considerate of him," Reaper remarked to Lucky. "You might want to go after him, in case he goes on another berserk killing spree."

"Aaanyway," Kraken said, refusing to abandon his good-humored air. "Just wanted to remind you idiots that I'm still around."

"...By holding a gun to a child's head?" Lucky said scornfully.

"That was smart," Reaper commented sarcastically under her breath.

Kraken made as if to leave, only to pause and turn back to them. "Oh, one last thing. If you think I'm trying something like this without any backup whatsoever, you need a major reality check." A snarl curled his voice. "I'm gaining followers, Lucky. Believe me when I say that Cthulhu and Ruby weren't the only ones who got out of Hell. Some of my new subordinates haven't even died yet."

"Bring as many of your soft-headed lackeys as you want," Lucky said, feigning boredom. "I'm no pretty kitty that sits on a silk pillow. I have claws for a reason, butthole. I put them to good use."

A large tree limb snapped off overhead and plummeted to the ground, narrowly missing Lucky. She dodged it with a casual sidestep before turning and spitting on it.

"Just to give you a taste of what'll happen in the near future," Kraken growled, all traces of friendliness now nonexistant. "A small taste. Infinitesimally small." Turning, he swiped his curled tail across Reaper's nose. "I see there's no talking to you. I'll throw you all down to Hell. All of you." With that, he left.

Reaper turned and winked broadly at Spiker, who had a tight hold of Ari's paw. She was squeezing back just as hard, staring after the dog. Lucky remained where she was for a moment, glancing back and forth between Reaper and the direction Kraken had taken. Swiftly, she turned and dashed off.

"That... was just creepy," Cub commented. "Seriously, he makes Cthulhu look like a freaking Care Bear." Jake was in undoubted agreement.

"Seconded."

"Thirded," Boomer put in.

"Fourthed," Spiker and Ari said in unison.

Needles had taken control again, and suddenly she let out a hacking cough. Spiker was at her side in an instant. "Are you okay, Needles?"

The smaller bearcupine held her throat. "Dunno," she said. "A feel kinda... bad."

"You might be getting a little sick," Spiker said worriedly. "C'mon, let's go home."

* * *

Cthulhu leaned against the trunk of a tree and let out a sigh through Flippy's mouth. His heart-- or was it Flippy's heart, that he was controlling for the time being?-- was pounding. Never before had he felt this kind of fear, not since... The demon wiped his damp forehead with a trembling paw. The one... the _only_ living creature he feared turned out to not be alive at all. If that wasn't enough, he was a demon, too!

_No... Dammit, I'm not weak. I'm not scared. I can't be scared! Demons shouldn't feel fear!_ His blue eyes narrowed angrily. _Demons shouldn't feel anything but hate. Hate is good. Hate is strength._

"What, not on a rampage?" Lucky's voice spooked him out of his thoughts. "I understand, actually. You fear him, don't you? Sparky, I mean. Er, Kraken. I guess we'll be calling him Kraken from now on."

Cthulhu refused to answer this. "What do you want, kittycat?"

Lucky shrugged. "To ask you a few things without someone interrupting and tackling you."

"I'm not telling you anything," he said coldly. This was good. He was in familiar territory. Someone wanted answers, and he was an expert at not giving them.

The black cat didn't seem to notice this. If she did, she ignored it completely. "There's one main thing that mystifies me," she said thoughtfully. "And that's why you killed Ruby. I don't see any motive for that. After all, the only crime she even committed was love. And that's not a crime, is it?"

_Stupid cat! She's making this way too easy!_ Cthulhu sneered contemptuously and spat on the ground, narrowly missing Lucky's feet. "Love, ha! All you goody-goodies say that _love is stronger than everything, love conquers all, it can't be defeated._ Ha! Love is weakness! And I'm pretty sure I defeated hers with one swipe of a knife!"

"That's where you're wrong, twice in one go," Lucky countered. "Ruby wants so much to hate you, and I don't blame her. But she can't hate you. She could never hate you." Cthulhu stiffened. _What...?_ "She doesn't understand it, even. I'm not sure I do, either. But she still has some shred of love. For you, though I can't see why." The demon stared at her, half aghast and half disbelieving. "Yeah, it scares you, doesn't it? It's something you don't know, something you can't understand. We all fear the unknown, Cthulhu. You're not any different." She paused, her eyes shining with triumph past her scarred face. "And as for love being weakness... ha, I beg to differ. Love is strength, Cthulhu. The only source there is for true strength."

"Oh, really?" Cthulhu raised an eyebrow skeptically.

"Yes, really," Lucky replied. "Truly, I hate to have to preach, but this is something I must say. It's the one and only secret to my successes, demon. Because if you have no love, if you can't truly love or care about something... then you have nothing to fight for." With that said, she turned to leave. But she wasn't done. She shouted her last words over her shoulder. "And you? You have nothing, Cthulhu. You've given yourself nothing. You'll be defeated by the very thing you say is weak, by the thing you fear most. You'll destroy yourself with your own great strength, which is in truth your greatest weakness. Hate never solved a thing, Cthulhu. It won't start any time soon." With that, she strode off into the woods, leaving behind her a very frightened demon.

* * *

**OH. WHAT NOW, BEYOTCH. WHAT. NOW.**

**Yeah... that was kind of corny, I guess. Don't blame me, I just watched a buttload of anime, which is something I don't normally do. In fact there's only one anime show that I actually enjoy. Yep. It's about dogs. It's very bloody. It's called Ginga Densetsu Weed. w00t!**

**At your disposal (sort of),**

**Adderstar of ValorClan**


	8. Chapter 8

But Cthulhu's anxiety did not last. As a stroke of aluck for the demon, Needles had caught the flu going around. Her cough worsened, her temperature rose, and within two days she was seeing things that weren't there.

Or was she?

In her weakened state, her mind was an open book. Determined to control her and her demon, Cthulhu harried her relentlessly.

Kraken had spoken truly in his verbal sparring with Echidna. Reaper took the sickness just as badly as Needles. When she appeared in the mirror, her normally bright, glinting eyes were dull and glassy, her quills were unkempt, and her head hung low as if she couldn't support its weight.

Needles slept fitfully, tossing and turning in her bed. Every now and then she would let out a whimper, and for a good reason.

In her dreams she saw Cthulhu. Her illness dampened her spirit a great deal, and she couldn't ward him off the way she had been doing for two years. Reaper stood beside her, looking no better than she.

"Why do you keep fighting me?" Cthulhu asked, shaking his head. "Even when you're half dead like this."

"We'll fight you," Reaper retorted in a cracking voice. "Til you give it up or til we're dead for good."

Needles glared. "If ya don' let up, den we wait."

"I only have to turn one of you," Cthulhu continued persistantly. "Where one of you goes, the other follows. The weaker one follows best. You could have complete control, Reaper, if you just listened to me."

"I don't want complete control," Reaper retorted. "And Needles isn't the weaker one. When will you realize that I have no interest in what you do? As long as I exist, I will oppose you."

"If you 'ad any brains at all, you'd see dat," Needles supported her. "Guess ya head's too big for it to make a diff'rence."

Cthulhu rolled his eyes, and Needles forced her own open. She awoke to see her brothers standing in her room.

"I'm sorry, Needles, did we wake you up?" Splash asked.

"No," Needles murmured.

"W-w-we j-just wanted t-to a-a-ask you s-some-something," Itch stammered.

"What?"

"What was it that Reaper said to Cthulhu a couple of days ago?" Spiker inquired.

Needles sat bolt upright. "What thing?"

"About Cthulhu trying to... you know, turn you," Spiker replied. "Is that true? Why didn't you tell us? You could have said something."

"It doesn' have anything to do with you," Needles replied. "It's me he wants."

Spiker clasped her paw warmly. "Needles, you're our sister. We won't leave you behind for anyone. We stick together, no matter what."

Needles smiled. "No matter what," she repeated. "But... I'm kinda tired." She fell back onto her pillow with a sigh. "Don' wanna sleep, though," she murmured. "He won't leave me alone when I'm asleep."

"You won't be sick forever," Splash reassured her. "When you're better, you can give him a few lumps for all of us."

The three brothers quietly left the room, and Needles drifted off again. But instead of Cthulhu, she was met by the strange squirrel Hel. Tears were brimming in the black squirrel's dark blue eyes as she repeated the same phrase over and over again.

"Tales of hearts and spirits broken, words of misery long unspoken!"

* * *

"Vance?" The weasel turned to see Lucky standing a few yards behind him, looking almost… timid.

"Yeah, Lucky?" Vance replied. "Is something wrong?"

The cat shrugged. "I don't know. Listen, can I talk to you about something?"

"Of course, you can tell me anything."

"Okay, this might sound a little strange…" Lucky paused. "Okay, this'll sound very strange, and I'm not completely sure how you'll receive this…"

"What's wrong?" Vance went over and gave her a hug.

"You probably won't understand," Lucky said, hugging him back. "But I've been doing a lot of thinking. We know now that besides Kraken, we still have the threat of Cthulhu, and I don't think it'll be easy to get rid of."

"Is that it?"

"No, I was just stating the obvious. But like I said, I've gone over a bunch of what I know, and…" Her voice trailed off, and she looked at her feet in embarrassment.

"Just spit it out," Vance urged gently.

"The thing is, Vance, I don't think Cthulhu is completely evil."

Vance's jaw dropped. "Wh-what?"

"It's true! At least, I think it is." She paused. "I know you say my problem is that I just have to see the best in everyone, but I've been mulling this idea over in my mind for quite a while. I've looked at it in a lot of ways, and somehow, even though it seems unlikely at first glance, I look again, look at some of the facts, and it sounds logical."

The weasel shook his head. "I can't see how you came to that conclusion," he told her. "And you're right, I don't understand it at all."

"Wouldn't everything be so much easier if we at least gave him a chance?" Lucky pressed, looking perturbed. "You know the saying; everyone deserves a second chance. Vance, I can't remember Cthulhu getting a first one."

"Because he's evil!" Vance replied, frustrated. "Why can't you just accept sometimes that there are people who are just evil?"

"Because there's always a reason," Lucky answered tersely. She started to walk away, but stopped. "And by the way, that's not true. There is a creature who I consider to be completely evil. I even gave him a second chance. I know there's such a thing as evil, Vance." She continued walking, throwing her last words over her shoulder. "I just don't think that all there is to it is doing bad things."

* * *

Far away, in a place where no living creature could ever easily go, two angels watched the actions of the frustrated cat.

Shadow ruffled the night-colored feathers on his raven wings. "A shred of hope, Lilia. That's all Lucky ever needs. Just a shred."

His companion sighed. "You have a lot of faith in her, my lord. Are you sure she can help?"

"You know as well as I do that Lucky is no normal cat," Shadow replied with a trace of pride in his voice. "I've had dealings with her before. Her sight is clearer than most, and she has a good heart. Of course there are times when she fails to control her temper, or her excitement, but she is the perfect one for such a task as this. She is not much different from your sons, both of them. I would trust Lucky with my very existence. Of course I would trust her to aide him. It will not be easy, though."

Lilia nodded, her bright blue eyes sorrowful. "It's my fault," she said sadly. "When he needed me most, I just left him. I took the easy way out."

The Spirit Guide heaved a sigh. "I cannot say that your actions were honorable," he admitted. "But nor can I say that they were unreasonable, or entirely your fault."

"But everyone else does," Lilia replied, her voice breaking. "They scorn me. They call me a coward. And they're right. But…" Tears flowed from her eyes. "They hate my son more than they hate me. They all agree I am good, but they only see my son for what he has done."

"He has made bad choices, done terrible things," Shadow said gently. "Lilia, I must be honest. Even though I have faith that Lucky will do all in her power to see justice, and that there is some good in his heart, there is still only a shred of hope for him."

Lilia shook her head. "I have to believe, my lord," she sobbed. "I have to believe he can be turned. It's all I have left. I love my sons more than life itself. But…" She paused, and took a deep breath. "I feared… I feared _him_ more than I loved my own children." A fresh wave of tears soaked her face.

Shadow laid a comforting paw around her shoulders. "There, there, child, wipe away your tears. I didn't mean—"

"No, no, that's not why I cry," Lilia said, shaking her head. "I just… I just _left_ him. What sort of mother am I?"

"A mother who has endured far too much," Shadow replied gently. "More than anyone can possibly comprehend. Even me."

"I… I've spent so much time wishing_,_" Lilia wept. "Uselessly wishing I was able to see my son again. To tell him how sorry I am that I left him alone with that… that _monster,_ and to tell him that I love him even after everything he's done, simply because he's my son and I know he is not evil. Because I do love him."

"You aren't the only one," Shadow reminded her.

"Yes…" Hope brightened Lilia's wet eyes. "Do you think Ruby might help him to turn, my lord?"

"If she can find it in herself to forgive him. She loves him, Lilia, but if she cannot forgive him…"

"And Ivan," Lilia said, her eyes shining. "He wants so much to see him again, too, perhaps apologize. That's why he chose to volunteer. And what of the child?"

"Which child?"

"You know," Lilia replied. "The child who was born as the same thing that my son was turned into."

"Reaper is no ordinary demon," said Shadow. "She was born from your son's hatred. But I think she was also born from what good in his heart he still had."

"She may be able to help him as well," Lilia said hopefully. "She's practically his daughter."

"Perhaps," Shadow replied. "But until we send Ivan back, it all depends on Lucky. She is the only one who sees the possibility and acknowledges it. If anyone can do it, she can."

"I hope she can," Lilia replied. "And I have faith in her as well; I met her once, years agfo. But… I fear for my sons, both of them, but especially 'Cthulhu'. They both look so much like their father, but _he_ acts like him, too."

Shadow seemed to think for a moment, but then gave her a fleeting smile. "He has your husband's fur, yes. But the eyes are the windows to the soul. It's worth mentioning, Lilia, that he has your eyes."

"I'd give anything," she said. "Anything to see him again, in person. I'd give anything to be able to hug my son, to tell him I'm sorry, and to feel him hug back. I… I'd give up my place here in heaven to hear him say, 'I love you' and mean it."

"You will have the chance to speak with him, of that I am sure," Shadow told her. "But the question is, will you have the courage to?"

Both angels were silent for a moment. Then the Guide spoke again. "Ivan knows it's almost time for him to go in. He's been avoiding you, I can tell. When he goes, he can't come back. I can tell he's having second thoughts about things, but I doubt he'll change his mind."

"He loves his brother too much," Lilia sighed. "And he just wants the same thing I do. He wants his brother's love, and that's all."

"And his brother fears love," Shadow pointed out. "It's the need to know and the fear of knowing. It's Maslow. He doesn't want to feel, and he doesn't want to know himself. But lucky for all of us, Lucky does. No pun intended."

"My lord, I know I'm not a brave creature, but I swear... that cat is inspiring," Lilia said with a small smile. "Maybe I'm biased because she's my son's only hope, but she wants to know, and that means so much to me. No one else wants to know."

Shadow let out a sigh. "In every tale, there are a thousand more left unheard. Sometimes, our character is decided by whether or not we have the ears to listen. Lucky is truly a wonder among creatures. If anyone can do this, she can."

* * *

**OOOOH! OOOOOOOOH! WHOOOO! NYAHAAAA! WHAT NOW, READERS? WHAT. NOW. Have I mentioned how much I love plot twists? I'm not sure if I have. Whatever. I LOVE PLOT TWISTS!**

**At your disposal (sort of),**

**Adderstar of ValorClan**


	9. Chapter 9

With a sigh, Flippy trudged out of his daughter's room. Her sickness was no worse; in fact, it was actually starting to let up. But the fever remained, and now these nightmares were beginning. The bear leaned against the wall. How much more of this could he take? Itch still left every room he went into, Cthulhu was back, Sparky or rather Kraken was back, his daughter was sick, and now Cthulhu was messing with her. Hel was floating around now, too, and though that was probably not a bad thing, it still weighed heavily on his mind. And as if all that wasn't enough, Lucky was almost impossible to talk to.

"You all right, Flippy?" Teddy asked worriedly, coming down the hall. "I know we all have so much on our minds, especially you... heh, no pun intended..."

"It's hard," Flippy admitted. "Usually when I have problems like this, I vent to Lucky. You know she's my best friend, Teddy."

His younger brother nodded. "Yeah, I know," he said emphatically. "So why don't you just vent to her like always?"

"I dunno," Flippy said with a shrug. "She's become very distant, and hard to talk to. It's like she knows something I don't know and should know, and she wants to say something but she won't. Does that make any sense?"

"Yeah..." Teddy nodded. "You know, I've died before, Flippy-- truly died, as you know. It's thanks to that I have a better understanding of some things than most people do. But Lucky seems to have a different perspective of things altogether. Who knows? It could be important, though. Hel came up to me yesterday, actually. She was repeating that rhyme of hers again, and kept going on about some 'little one'... sounded like she was talking about Itch almost. Or even me, I dunno."

Flippy winced inwardly, remembering that Hel had said something similar to him, thirteen years before. "I just wish Lucky would say something," he said with a shrug. "It's like she's dying to talk, but she doesn't think she can."

"And maybe she can't," Teddy said. "You don't know anything, so maybe you shouldn't assume anything."

Laughing, Flippy reached out and ruffled his younger brother's head fur. "Since when did you start making Confucius look bad, Ted?"

Ducking in a good-naturedly annoyed way, Teddy snickered. "Since I came back from the dead, genius. When else?" With a still-juvenile bounce in his step, Teddy left.

Flippy stared after him, wondering what it was like to have to juggle living your life and the wisdom that came from dying.

"It's not that bad, actually." The bear spun around to see Cthulhu watching him from the bathroom mirror. "But then, maybe I shouldn't be talking, because I'm not actually alive. Unlike most demons, I decided not to inhabit a dead body. I actually have tastes."

"You could have done like Ruby and looked for your own body," Flippy said reproachfully. "Then I wouldn't have to be dealing with you."

"Still whining about that?" Cthulhu rolled his eyes. "You'd think a guy would be used to it after a while. Whatever." The gray demon promptly flipped him the bird and vanished.

Flippy gritted his teeth in frustration. Would he ever be free of that demon? Or was he doomed to have to harbor Cthulhu until he died? _Until I die... Huh, who knows how long that will be..._

A frantic knocking at the door wrenched him out of his thoughts. He heard Flaky open the door. "Hi, Lucky, Vance," she greeted. She sounded concerned. "Is something wrong?"

"Is Flippy here? We have to talk to him." There was a clear note of anxiety in the cat's voice.

"Sure. Flippy!"

Upon entering the room, the first thing Flippy noticed was the nervousness that was emanating from Lucky in waves. Her eyes were wide, her fur was bristling, and she was toying nervously with her lucky stone. Vance stood beside her, looking equally tense. To his surprise and anger, Chigger the muskrat was at their heels. Scabies was nowhere in sight. Spiker was already present, and he glared angrily at the bullying muskrat. Chig didn't seem to notice. Itch crept out of the room, and Flippy wasn't sure whether it was because of Chigger or because of him.

"What's the matter?" Flippy asked.

Lucky nudged Chigger forward. "You say first."

The muskrat looked close to tears, and Spiker's anger was momentarily replaced by confusion. "Y-you were right," Chig stammered. "You were right all along, and we were wrong." The poor kid looked so scared that Flippy's ire dissipated as well.

"What do you mean? Right and wrong about what?"

"Scab started acting weird," Chigger explained. "And his eyes kept changing color, flickering from black to... I think it was brown. Yeah, dark brown."

Flippy felt tension in the darker part of his mind, the part that Cthulhu inhabited. Was the demon worried?

_You're damn right I'm worried._

"And anyway... he stopped acting like himself, and even said at one point that he wasn't Scab, which didn't make any sense at the time. But his voice was completely different, and he called himself... Typhon, I think."

"_TYPHON?!_" Everyone stared at Flippy, for the sudden outburst had come from his mouth, but in Cthulhu's voice. Flippy shook his head to clear himself of the demon's control, and his eyes turned black again.

There was a mirror in the room, about five feet away from the door, and suddenly the demon appeared in it. He pressed both gray paws against it, looking like he trying to get out of a glass box. Even though he said nothing more, it was clear he was listening intently.

But Chig didn't have much more to say. "And that's all. He just disappeared yesterday. I... I know Scab almost as good as I know my own self. I can't explain it... he just didn't... I felt like he wasn't _Scab_ anymore. It was like he was someone else..."

Flippy looked up at Lucky, who glanced back at him and mouthed, _Demons_. Some inexplicable force made him glance at the mirror. Cthulhu was staring oddly at Chigger, for some reason looking taken aback by what the muskrat had just said. Then the demon shook himself, and the strange look was gone.

"I never thought I'd say this..." said Chig, "...but I think it was a demon."

"It was a demon."

Flippy, Spiker, Lucky, Flaky, Vance, and Chigger simultaneously turned to stare at Cthulhu, who had been the one to speak. Looking only slightly bewildered at the attention, Cthulhu shrugged. "What?"

Lucky turned back to Flippy. "And that's not all," she said through gritted teeth, clearly fighting back either a fit of sobbing or a berserk rage. With eyes dark red with fury, she forced her news out in a harsh whisper. "_The bastard took my daughter!_"

"What?" Spiker stiffened. "Ari! How?"

Vance took off his shades and rubbed his eyes. Looking at the weasel's face, Flippy couldn't help but notice dried blood crusting around his nose. Clearly, the stress had given Vance a nosebleed.

"Managed to take her when she was alone," the weasel snarled softly.

"I followed him, without letting him see me," Lucky continued. The black cat scraped her unsheathed claws against the gold statue she still carried, as if the sharpness of her lethal talons was reassuring to her. "I followed him right to their HQ."

"Where?" The word left Flippy's mouth before he could stop it.

"Abandoned crazy farm, southern edge of the forest," the cat replied. "Snuck in, got a bunch of information. Apparently, the demons are recruiting live ones. And not through possession, either."

"You mean, there are actually living creatures, willingly following them?" Flaky gasped.

"They want to be on the winning side," Lucky said with what was half a grimace and half a smile.

"Kind of like those completely useless rats I took over thirteen years ago," Cthulhu broke in. "You know, for a while I considered calling them the Cult of Cthulhu."

"Yeah, yeah, and my grandpa's from Ulthar," Lucky snapped angrily at the demon.

"I don't doubt it," Cthulhu shot back calmly. "But for now, don't worry about your daughter. If I know Kraken, he'll keep her alive just so you can stew in your own juice."

Flaky glowered angrily at him. "Kind of like you, huh?"

"Wrong," Cthulhu snapped. "I wasn't using you to get to _him,_" --he indicated Flippy-- "I was using you to get _him_ to _me_. And compared to those rats, I barely ever laid a paw on you."

"It's still the same thing, Cthulhu," Flippy said through clenched teeth. "And you seem to know a lot about this. I'm wondering how many kids you've held for ransom, or just killed. I'll bet you did it a lot back when you were alive, back when they would stay dead--"

"_Don't insult me!_" Cthulhu interrupted, his face a mask of cold fury. "What, do I look like a coward to you?"

"You're a bully, Cthulhu," Vance said scornfully. "All bullies are cowards." Chigger winced noticeably.

"You kill people who can't fight back," Flippy added, contempt dripping from his voice.

"I don't kill kids!" Cthulhu snarled suddenly. "I don't kill them, I don't maim them, I don't use them as trump cards! How _dare_ you!"

Flippy stared disbelievingly. Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw Lucky give Vance a slightly triumphant look, but he couldn't be sure.

"You killed Cub once," Vance challenged him.

"It wasn't my fault!" Cthulhu said defensively. "How was I supposed to know they were gonna open the door right as the burger place exploded? Coulda happened to anyone!"

Flaky gasped suddenly, staring around wildly. "Where's Spiker?"

"He left a while ago," said Chigger. "Just after Lucky mentioned where they took..." Chigger's voice trailed off as the bearcupine's probable whereabouts dawned on him suddenly. Flippy was just as quick to grasp it.

With a sigh, the bear coverered his face with both paws. "Damn it."

Lucky was already out the door. "Come on; we may still catch him up."

* * *

In the meantime, Spiker was running through the woods with no clear plan in his head. All he could think about was Ari, and that those demon bastards had taken her. But had he bothered to stay longer in his house, he would have heard what Lucky had said about recruiting "live ones".

The young bearcupine found himself surrounded on all sides by animals, none of them sporting the beady eyes that indicated possession. One of them, a large yellow badger, loaded his gun in a businesslike way.

"We got ourselves that other hybrid," he said to the others. To Spiker, he bared his teeth, which were completely normal and flat. Spiker's blood ran cold when he realized that these creatures were acting of their own free will.

The badger pointed his gun directly between Spiker's eyes. "You're coming with us."

* * *

**CLIFFIE! Muahahaha. Soho... this chapter kind of builds on Cthulhu's character, doesn't it? Yes it does... and yes, Spiker has a total crush on Ari. Mm-hm. It's true. :D**

**At your disposal (sort of),**

**Adderstar of ValorClan**


	10. Chapter 10

Without thinking, Spiker jumped back from the badger, right into the grip of another of his captors. The sudden appearance of so many enemies had wrenched the bearcupine sharply back into reality, and cold fear was swiftly replacing the initial anger. Spiker struggled wildly, trying to pull away, but the hamster behind him had a tight hold of his arm. Trying another method, Spiker threw himself backwards at the hamster, driving a back ful of quills into into the rodent's stomach.

The hamster let out a snarl of pain and immediately let go of him. Spiker spun around, quills bristling to their full extent, and gasped. Blood oozed sluggishly from the hamster's injuries, but they didn't seem to weaken him other than the presence of pain. The worst of the wounds, the ones that should have been fatal, slowly closed up.

Spiker unconsciously took another step back when he saw the beadiness in the hamster's eyes that clearly told him, possession.

"Y-you're a demon..." he stammered.

"It's Cerberus to you, you sorry little hybrid freak," the hamster snarled. "You'll pay for that for a long time now, you can be sure of it!" He let out an unpleasant laugh. "So you thought you could bust out your little girlfriend, didja? Guess you thought wrong, brat!"

There was a faint, barely audible whistling noise as something sped through the air and smashed into an unlucky mink's nose. The animal let out a shriek and clutched his bleeding snout. "Da HELL?! Who did dat?"

Spiker blinked. Sticking from the mink's muzzle, like an oversized whisker, was a single red quill.

Another missile pinned a gray squirrel's paw to a tree trunk, and a third narrowly missed Cerberus's foot. Splash threw himself into the middle of things, tail swinging wildly from side to side. "You're an idiot!" he hissed to Spiker, grabbing him by the paw. "A complete and total idiot, did you know that?" Side by side, the two brothers dashed through the group of animals, exposing their quills to anyone who tried to get close. They cleared the confused animals and quickened their pace as the group recovered and took off after them.

* * *

A few front runners, led by the injured squirrel, caught up and passed them, spinning around to try to recapture them. Splash let go of his brother and skidded to a halt, right as what seemed to be a blur of black cannoned into a mouse and knocked him flat.

Lucky stepped hard on the mouse's head and launched herself over both bearcupines' heads to land spitting in Cerberus's path. "You in charge here, Fluffy?" she hissed, shortly before hurling herself at him with her claws unsheathed.

Orange fur blazed past Splash's vision as the demon-vixen Ruby shot past and threw herself recklessly into the crowd of confused animals. He half-turned to Spiker before the dark gray squirrel pressed the barrel of a gun to his head.

_BANG!_

Splash froze, fully expecting to die right then and there. Spiker was staring at him, horrified. Slowly, Splash turned to meet the squirrel's gaze. His would-be killer's eyes were wide with shock as the gun slipped from his nerveless paw, and he crumpled to the ground with a bullet hole in the back of his head. Standing right behind him was Flippy, with his own gun still held in the same position. Splash stared at him, noticing the equal disbelief in his father's blue eyes. Wait... _blue eyes?_

It was difficult to tell who was more shocked in that moment; Splash, the dead squirrel, or Cthulhu.

But the demon's surprise lasted only a moment. Twirling the gun around his paw, Cthulhu cocked an eyebrow at both brothers before dashing back into the fray. Splash stared after him incredulously, watching as he dodged around Ruby to attack the yellow badger with a strange-looking dagger. Black-bladed with a dark green handle. Hadn't Lucky mentioned a knife like that?

* * *

Cthulhu knew that most people considered him unpredictable, but he'd never been unpredictable to himself before. Swerving to avoid Ruby, he drew out a weapon that had gone without the taste of blood for what the demon judged to be far too long: his cursed dagger.

Instinctively, he glanced to the fox, who met his stare squarely with a red-eyed glare. Something in him gave beneath her angry gaze, and he turned back to his intended victim: a large yellow badger with black stripes.

The animal backed off snarling, aiming at Cthulhu and firing several times. Despite knowing that he could still control a dead body, Cthulhu grabbed a chipmunk next to him and held him up like a shield, letting the unlucky rodent take the bullets. Tossing aside the limp body, Cthulhu shot to one side and smashed the firearm out of the badger's grip, at the same time striking him hard on the forehead with the handle of his knife. He was about to finish the half-conscious creature off when the hamster managed to shake Lucky off and flashed to Cthulhu's side with eye-blurring speed. Cthulhu momentarily abandoned the badger and faced his new opponent.

"Well, well," Cthulhu gritted out. "Cerberus, isn't it?"

"That's right," Cerberus said with a cold smile. "Kraken's been meaning to speak to you."

"If he wants to me to join up with you pussies then he can go and fu--"

"Now, I find that very offensive," Cerberus cut him off with a growl. "Not so much the 'pussy' part as the part where you actually think we'd want you around us. No, to be perfectly frank, Kraken would like nothing better than to skewer you like a shish kabob and roast you over the fires of Hell."

"Sounds tasty," Cthulhu retorted insolently. "Save some for me, will you?"

Too late he saw the swift paw signal Cerberus gave; by the time he turned around, the badger was on his feet with the gun raised. Then came a flash of black, and the badger was dead before he hit the ground.

Tail swishing, Reaper stood over the dead badger with a bloodied scimitar in her paw. Her entire gaunt frame heaved as she panted heavily, and sickness still clouded her eyes.

Cthulhu raised an eyebrow. "You cut it a little close."

"Screw you," Reaper retorted, still breathing hard. "I can hardly use my lungs, dillhole. Don't blame me if I can't run that fast."

The demon bear glanced back; Lucky was keeping Cerberus busy, and the non-possessed animals that weren't dead were running away. "Is there a reason why you're even here?" he inquired lazily. "Last time I saw you, you were coughing your lungs inside out. And... don't call me dillhole."

"Dillhole," Reaper shot back petulantly. "And it wasn't my idea, it was all Needles."

The little bearcupine's eyes returned to normal momentarily, and for a moment blue met blue evenly. "I saw you save my brother," Needles said solemnly in a clear, coherent voice. "Dunno why you did, but you did." Then, dragging the red-spattered scimitar, she slipped away and went as quickly as her sickness would allow toward home.

_That makes two of us,_ the demon thought as he allowed Flippy to regain control. _I don't know, either._

* * *

When Flippy got a hold of himself again, the group of attackers were gone, and Lucky was struggling to hold back Splash. His son was struggling wildly. "Lemme go! Lemme go! They took Spiker! _Spiker!_"

"Splash!" Lucky hissed. "You can't do him any good by yelling, screaming, and rushing into things! Now they have two trump cards; we can't let them have a third one!"

With tears streaming down his face, Splash went limp in Lucky's grip.

Flippy wanted to go over and give his sobbing son a hug, but then he looked down at himself. Blood had splattered his camo jacket, his paws were practically dyed red, and he could even taste blood. Oh wait, that was his own. He was biting his lip hard enough to break skin.

Then it all came back to him again; he'd been conscious of what was happening while Cthulhu was in control of him. That was a rare thing; usually, he could never remember what had occured during one of the demon's rampages.

He looked around at those who had come with him to try to intercept Spiker: Lucky, Vance, Ruby, and Teddy. He recalled seeing Needles as well, but by now she was probably back home. He hoped.

A sudden fear gripped him. "I-I gotta tell Flaky what happened," he stammered before turning and running in the direction his daughter had taken. Lucky was right; they couldn't afford to let Kraken have three children at his mercy. In such a weakened state, Needles was an easy target.

The bear reached home to find his daughter in bed and drifting off to sleep, apparently exhausted. With a sigh he changed his jacket and rinsed the bloody one thoroughly before throwing it in with the laundry. He went into the bathroom and leaned against the wall for about ten minutes before washing his paws several times with nearly scalding water. Flippy was only half surprised when Cthulhu appeared in the mirror. The demon looked expectant, almost hopeful.

Flippy glared at him. "You might have killed someone I cared about, Cthulhu. I neither like you nor trust you."

"I don't doubt it," Cthulhu answered calmly.

"I don't know what you're playing at, or what your plans are motives are, but I don't care at this point!" Flippy snapped, seething at the demon's calm demeanor. "My son and my best friend's daughter are missing, and I'm not even a hundred percent sure they're still alive! But if you think you can take advantage of this and start plotting again, you can forget about it!"

Cthulhu's blue eyes narrowed. "_Excuse me?_" He looked furious. "Huh... My _God!_ I knew it! I just knew it! I just put my ass on the line and saved who? Your son? I thought it was your son, wasn't it? Yeah! I just saved your brat's life, without any provocation, reason, or promise of self-benefit, which as you know is NOT something I usually do, and what do I get? A screaming tirade of ingratitude and accusations, that's what! I just _saved_ your brat, for reasons that _I'm_ not even sure of! I'm not asking for a trophy! I'm not even asking for a fuckin' Hallmark greeting card! But at the very least I deserve a thank you!"

"Start doing stuff like this on a regular basis, and then we'll talk!" Flippy shot back. "One good deed doesn't make up for everything you've done!"

"Did I say it did? Huh? Did I? NO! All I want is two words: Thank. You. That's all I ask!"

Flippy rolled his eyes. "And since when did you care about how grateful we are?"

The demon stared at him, teeth clenched and bared, forcing the corners of his mouth up in a strained smile. Suddenly he looked past him, and the forced grin disappeared to be replaced by a sullen I-told-you-so look. "See? What'd I tell you?" With that, he disappeared.

Flippy looked over his shoulder to see Lucky standing there. "Flaky let me in," she explained with a shrug. "I just wanted to come by and drop off Splash, and I heard you talking. See you later." She turned to leave, but paused. "By the way, Flippy..." Disapproval was clear in her voice. "Whether or not you like or trust him, politeness costs us nothing." With that, the black cat trotted away. Behind her, Flippy couldn't help but feel extremely embarrassed.

* * *

**Ooookay... some inner turmoil with Cthulhu there... and the plot thickens! Yes. It thickens. Heeheeheeheehee.**

**At your disposal (sort of),**

**Adderstar of ValorClan**


	11. Chapter 11

Boomer and Jake were stacking dishes when their parents came home and stalked into the kitchen, looking tight-lipped with tension. Jake blinked at them, looking puzzled.

"Mom? Dad? What's going on now?"

"Ari isn't hurt, is she?" Boomer asked worriedly, wiping away the dishwater that had had splashed the dark brown fur on his chest.

"No clue," Lucky said unhappily. Her ears were flat against her head, but with dejection rather than anger. "We have no idea how they're treating her. And that's not the worst of it."

"Spiker tried to get her back," Vance sighed. "We went after him, had a run-in with some of them, but they managed to take him, too."

"They kidnapped Spiker?" Boomer gasped. Jake's eyes widened.

"Yes." Lucky looked at her younger son sympathetically. "I'm so sorry, Boomer, I know he was your friend. We did everything we could..."

The cat-weasel's pointed ears lowered, and he looked like he was fighting back tears. "It's all right, Mom... I'm sure you did your best..."

Jake bit his lip. "What can we do?"

"Nothing, for now," Lucky replied wretchedly. "They won't kill them, that's for sure. They'll use them to torment us, but they won't kill them."

"Where'd you hear that from?" Jake asked.

"An expert on the subject." Vance's voice was tight.

Looking miserable, Boomer turned to leave. His father caught him by the arm.

"Listen, Marty," Vance said urgently. Boomer paid rapt attention, knowing that his father was serious when he used his real name. "I know Spiker's your best friend and Ari's your sister, but just... whatever you do, don't let your head get away from you. It's the reason Spiker was taken. Just promise me now that you won't... you know, try to rush into things."

Boomer stared at him long and hard before nodding slowly.

"Promise me," Vance said.

"I promise."

The weasel released his son, and Boomer let his tail drag on the floor as he left for his room. Carefully he closed and locked it before sitting down-- hard-- on his unmade bed. His unsheathed claws gouged holes into the mattress, and tears rolled down his face to drip onto his lap. His best friend and his little sister were gone, and there was nothing he could do about it.

Or maybe there was.

He would keep his promise to his dad; he wouldn't rush into things. He would wait, be patient, and use his ears to get any information he could. He could get his brother and all his friends together-- Jake, Splash, Itch, maybe Needles if she got better (she was a good one to have on your side in a fight, that was for sure). If they worked together and planned carefully, they could at the very, very least help the adults rescue Spiker and Ari.

Tightening his clawed grip on his bed mattress, Boomer wiped his eyes and smiled. He could so do this. If he couldn't, Mom could. _Mom knows she's awesome. She can do anything._

But fate was never that kind.

* * *

Cthulhu crouched in his dark corner of Flippy's mind, feeling impatient. A week had passed since Kraken's henchmen had taken Spiker, and that cat was getting far too smart, too knowledgeable. The demon shuddered, wondering what would happen if she found out about... _No! No one will know! No one will ever know! Except of course..._

He shuddered again, and felt a sudden twinge in the core of his heart. Then he shook himself. _No... heh, I have no heart. And I know only one who's responsible for that._ He wished he could be in control of Flippy's mouth at that moment. He felt the urge to spit on the ground.

As if in answer to his wishful thinking, a conveniently placed bowl of tomato soup was knocked to the ground, splattering red liquid everywhere. As Flippy was reminded of the blood and gore that came with war, the former soldier's memories of the crippling emotions like fear and hatred came flooding through his mind. Like a fish in an underwater current, the demon leapt into the heart of these emotions and inexorably took control of his host's body, shoving the still-struggling bear's essence back into the secluded corner.

Flaky was staring at him, horrified, as she slowly backed away from him. Swiping his tongue over his pointed teeth, Cthulhu stared at her contemptuously. "You're not even worth the trouble."

The demon turned his back to the porcupine and left. Once outside, he took to whatever shadows he could find, hiding behind corners and slipping from hiding place to hiding place like a wild animal stalking its prey. Which, in some sense, he was. Finally, when he looked around, he saw that he was in a secluded part of the woods.

Not that Lucky could be considered prey. She and Flippy were both the only ones who could actually fight back. Cuddles, Flaky, Petunia, and all of them? No fun at all.

_One more_, he thought suddenly. _Not just Flippy and Lucky. Ruby, too..._ The demon's teeth clenched. His stomach twinged, and he didn't know why. No. He knew why. And he hated it.

"You know, if you keep to the shadows, it's easier for a black cat to sneak up on you," a voice right behind him jarred him out of his thoughts. Cthulhu whirled around to see Lucky pressed against a tree, blending in with the shadow it cast until she looked like a patch of darkness with eyes. The golden Idol was trapped beneath her foot, and despite the thwart to her bad luck, she still kept the clover tucked behind her ear and a smooth blue rock hanging around her neck on a cord.

"So how much thinking have you been doing now?" Cthulhu asked, flipping his black-bladed knife in one paw. "Still trying to profile me?"

Lucky stared hard at him, and the demon could have sworn he saw her mouth twitching in a half-smile. "I know why you killed Ruby."

Cthulhu tensed, but he did not reply. The black cat began tossing the Idol up and catching it with her tail, repeating the motion idly (no pun intended).

"Ever heard of a guy named Maslow, Cthulhu?" she began. "Abraham Maslow. Psychologist, you know. Famous for his 'hierarchy of needs'. But for this lecture I'll focus on his 'need to know and fear of knowing'." She paused, smiling at him with narrowed eyes.

"'In general this kind of fear is defensive, in the sense that it is a protection of our self-esteem, of our love and respect for ourselves.' (Of which you have none, by the way, Cthulhu.) 'We tend to be afraid of any knowledge that could cause us to despise ourselves or to make us feel inferior, weak, worthless, evil, shameful. We protect ourselves and our ideal image of ourselves by repression and similar defenses, which are essetially techniques by which we avoid becoming conscious of unpleasant or dangerous truths.'" The cat paused. "As Freud himself said, 'To be completely honest with oneself is the very best effort one can make.' Do you see now?"

"See what?" Cthulhu said stubbornly.

Lucky raised an eyebrow. "I just rattled off quotes from two famous psychologists, and you're still not getting it. Would you like some more?" Without waiting to hear his answer, she continued. "'But there is another kind of truth we tend to evade. Not only do we hang on to our psychopathology, but alsw we tend to evade personal growth because this, too, can bring another kind of fear, of awe, of feelings of weakness and inadequacy. And so we find another kind of resistance, a denying of our best side, of our talents, of our finest impulses, of our highest potentialities, of our creativeness. In brief, this is the struggle against our own greatness, the fear of _hubris_.'" Lucky broke off once more to catch her breath before continuing. "You're afraid of what little live good you have left, Cthulhu. I don't quite know why yet, but you're afraid of showing your best self. Of being all you can be." Was that _sympathy_ he was hearing in her tone? "Low self-esteem. You only want to be the person you were taught to be. Dunno who taught you, but I oughtta give him or her a taste of my claws."

"Why do you seem so interested in me?" Cthulhu wanted to know.

"Why?" Lucky echoed. "Because I believe in justice."

The demon stared at her incredulously. Suddenly, he laughed aloud. "Ha! HA! Justice? If you were such a firm believer in justice, you'd tie me up and let everyone I've ever wronged loose on me! You'd thrash me a couple of times yourself for that scratch I gave you thirteen years ago!"

"You mean this?" The cat traced a paw over the parallel slashes over her right eye, almost an exact copy of Cthulhu's, but with narrower lines. "It was prepaid, wasn't it? And besides." Her eyes narrowed farther until they were slits of green. "There's a fine line between revenge and justice."

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah, really," Lucky retorted. "Revenge is hurting people to make yourself feel better. Justice is doing all you can to make sure it's fair for everyone. And you? You've been obsessed with hurting people to make yourself feel better. Like you did with Ruby, and all the other innocent people you killed. You were taking revenge on people who'd never wronged you."

Cthulhu's eyes widened angrily. "What would you know?"

"I know why you hated her, or you thought you hated her," Lucky hissed. "It was because she made you feel, wasn't it?"

"What are you talking about?" The demon's grip tightened on his knife handle.

"But you didn't want to feel," Lucky continued ruthlessly. "You didn't know what it was you were feeling... and it scared you. When it all comes down to it, Cthulhu, the only thing we really fear is fear itself. You wanted to get rid of your fear, and you did that by eliminating the source. By killing Ruby." Her eyes flashed red momentarily. "By killing the ONLY ONE who loved you! Glad you did it, demon? I hope you are. Because you're going to have to live with it."

"I'm not scared of anything," Cthulhu snarled challengingly. "And I kill anyone who says otherwise."

Lucky laughed in his face. "You don't learn much, do you?" she said scornfully. "First you kill the only people who loved you... Now you're threatening to kill the only one who's trying to help you."

"I don't need help," Cthulhu shot back.

"And I saw you save Splash the other day, too," Lucky carried on, ignoring him. "You have a soft spot for children, don't you?"

Rage rushed through him like a tidal wave, and without warning he hurled himself at her. "SHUT UP!"

The cat dodged to one side, narrowly avoiding death by dropping the Idol to one side to give her greater speed. She skidded to a halt on all fours before getting back to her feet with her claws out. "Oh, wonderful," she said ruefully. "I didn't want for this to turn into a brawl. Oh, well. By the way, just so we're fighting on even terms..." he had been holding something else in the curl of her tail, and now she gave a flick of her tail tip and sent it flashing through the air over her head until she caught it deftly in one paw. Cthulhu's blood turned to ice when he recognized Ruby's dagger.

"Higher stakes, my friend, even though I don't really want to kill you," Lucky said with a shrug, balancing the weapon on the tip of her paw.

"Don't call me your friend," Cthulhu growled. "I'm nobody's friend."

"I feel sorry for you, I really do," the cat said sympathetically.

"I DON'T WANT YOUR PITY!" A sudden fury gripped Cthulhu in that moment, a rage that he had not felt since... _no..._ He recognized the emotion instantly. It was rage born of desperation.

Born of fear.

Cthulhu fought two battles: in his mind, he could feel Flippy practically throwing himself against the barriers Cthulhu had kept around himself for longer than he could remember. _No...stop! Stop! Leave her alone! She's my friend! LEAVE HER ALONE!_

The demon barely heard him through the wrath that took hold of him insidiously. Lucky stood ready for him, but made no move to attack. Snarling, Cthulhu sprang at her, feinted slightly to the right, and lunged. With eye-blurring speed, she shot to one side and pushed off the ground with her feet, launching herself into the air. When she was in mid-pounce, Cthulhu struck upward frantically with his weapon, driving it in just between her hip and her ribcage. She jumped back with a hiss of pain, and the knife was wrenched from Cthulhu's paw. He hesitated. He hadn't actually meant to stab that hard.

With a grunt, Lucky pulled the knife out, tossed it to one side, and pointedly ignored her injury. She flung her own weapon at him, and the end of the hilt struck him hard between the eyes. Colored lights exploded in his vision, and he didn't see Lucky charge with the Idol gripped in both paws. She swung it, smashing it into his ribs. The demon fell flat on his back, stunned. His mouth opened as he fought for breath, but he found himself unable to defend himself as Lucky stepped forward and picked up the dagger.

_After all that..._ the demon thought, going limp with resignation._ After all that, it just ends here. Look out, Hell. Cthulhu's coming back._

Lucky stared back and forth from the dagger in her paw to Cthulhu. After what seemed like an eternity, she tossed it aside and slowly backed away from the demon. Then she finally remembered her wound, and she leaned against a tree with eyes bright with pain.

The demon suddenly regained his breath and got up. His pounding headache was gone, and it seemed Flippy had wasted himself in a frantic fight to regain control. Now, Cthulhu faced the injured cat.

"What the _hell_ was that? You could've just killed me and been done with it! You could've ended it! Why didn't you kill me?"

With her ears lowered, Lucky clutched at her wound and shrugged. "Kindness of my own heart. Some think it's a fault."

"What are you-- what do you mean, 'kindness'?" Cthulhu demanded. "I've never given you any reason to be 'kind' to me!"

"That's not how it works," the cat replied, sinking lower to the ground.

Cthulhu glanced back at his dagger. The entire length of the blade was slick with blood. He'd stabbed her all the way up to the hilt. He looked back at Lucky, who was now down on all fours. "Y-you're dying."

"Heh, did ya just figure that out?" the cat laughed softly, her voice raspy with pain. "Well, you finally killed me, didn't you? Right now I'm wondering if you actually meant to do it. Oh... and I've thought of another reason you might have killed Ruby. Because some part of you wanted to protect her."

Cthulhu stared at her. "From what?"

"Yourself. If she was dead, you couldn't hurt her anymore. You aren't a bad person, Cthulhu. You're just a good person who's done bad things."

The demon shook his head. "I just killed you," he said. "Why would you...?"

A dry laugh escaped the cat's mouth. "Stranger to kindness, aren't you?" she rasped. "Never shown it... never been shown it... it's no wonder you never had a chance. Well I've just given you one. Don't waste it."

"Wait, don't die," Cthulhu protested. "You haven't explained anything to me!"

"Is that so? Cthulhu, I've explained everything to you. Now I can trust your brother to explain everything to _me_."

Cthulhu's eyes widened. "H-how do you know I have a brother? What else do you know?"

"Nothing else. They never tell me anything. Maybe now that I'm dead, they will."

A strange feeling made Cthulhu's stomach clench. Was it remorse? Regret?

It certainly wasn't triumph.

Something hot and wet ran down Cthulhu's face. Had he been wounded? He pressed one paw to the flow and inspected it, to find that the strange wetness was clear. _What...? _

_I'm... crying?_

Cthulhu fled back into the depths of Flippy's mind, practically shoving the exhausted soul back into control.

* * *

Once back in control, Flippy was struck by a wave of panic and grief. With a gasp, he stumbled over to Lucky.

"Lucky!" Flippy knelt by her. "I'm so sorry... I tried to fight him!"

The cat's eyes were clouding over, but she looked him in the eye and smiled. "It's gonna be okay, now, pal," she said. "You just gotta believe it."

Too shocked to cry, Flippy shook his head. "Believe? Lucky, you're dying! I don't know what to believe anymore!"

Lucky blinked. "Start with yourself." She was fading fast. "Oh, and Flippy... I was right. I was right all along. T-tell Vance I was right." With that said, her green eyes clouded over and closed, and a final raspy breath left her mouth.

In his anguish, he'd failed to notice the three who were running toward him. Vance's nose looked like it had been fountaining blood, and Flaky looked ready to burst into tears. The third, to Flippy's dismay, was Itch.

Vance's nose has stopped bleeding, and now he knelt by her. Tears mingled with the blood on the weasel's muzzle.

"The knife..." Vance managed to say. "Cthulhu had it all along." Itch whimpered, and Flaky simply let out a deep, shuddering sigh.

Flippy excused himself and ran home. Once in the living room, he flung himself at the mirror.

"Show yourself!" he shouted angrily. "Where are you?"

At once his reflection's eyes blinked and turned blue, the fur turned gray, and Cthulhu stared back at him with an unreadable expression.

"So it wasn't enough to kill my brother, was it?" Flippy gritted at the reflected demon. "You had to go after my best friend, too! When does it end, Cthulhu? Who will you kill next, huh? Flaky? Itch? Spiker or Splash? Needles? Talk, you filthy, murdering--" Flippy broke off his tirade when he saw that his reflection's eyes were black once again, and the figure in the mirror once more copied his movements. Overwhelmed by frustration, anguish, and despair, Flippy slumped with his back pressed against the cold glass, slid down to the hard floor, and stared down emptily at his paws.

"Daddy?"

Flippy looked up at the sound of Needles' voice. The little porcupine looked pale and tired from the fever she had only just gotten over, and she was sweating slightly. Judging by the groggy look in her still overbright eyes, she had just awoken.

"Needles? You're still a little sick, you shouldn't be up," Flippy told her. "Go back to bed."

Ignoring his command, Needles trundled forward. "Somethin' wong, Daddy? Is that dog comin' back?"

"No, Needles, he isn't," Flippy assured her.

"Then, is it Cthulhu?" she pressed.

More tears leaked out of Flippy's eyes. "Yes, it's Cthulhu."

Needles stood on tiptoe and wrapped her arms gently around his neck. "Don' worry, Daddy," she reassured him. "Lucky can beat 'im. She always does."

Flippy could feel his heart being torn apart. Returning her hug, he said as gently as he could in a breaking voice, "Sweetheart... Lucky's dead."

Needles tensed. "Wh-what?"

A sob wracked her father's body. "She fought Cthulhu," he said quietly. "He won."

Trembling, Needles shook her head. Flippy could feel tears dampening the sleeve of his army jacket. "But Daddy, you always say tell the truth. Why're you lying to me now?"

"I wish I was, Needles," Flippy whispered.

"But she'll come back, right?" Needles said desperately. "Like everyone does. She'll come back!" But the look in Flippy's eyes told her otherwise.

All traces of Needles' fiery spirit (which had been dwindling during her sickness) vanished then. The tiny porcupine let out a pitiful heartrending sob and buried her face in Flippy's shoulder.

Flippy cradled his little daughter in both arms as she whispered, "Dad...I'm scared."

And all he could do was hold her, stroke the soft quills on her head, and murmur back, "It'll be okay, sweetheart. We'll be okay."

And that was then something occurred to him. He had not yet shed a single tear, simply because he was too shocked to do so. So why could he feel dampness on his face?

* * *

The Spirit Guide buried his head in one black paw as Lilia bit her lip. Ivan watched as a new spirit approached, green eyes narrowed in determination.

Shadow looked up sharply. "Lucky, what were you thinki--" But the cat spirit held up one paw.

"Just... keep watching him," Lucky said. "I think I got to him. I finally got to him. But..." She faced Ivan. "I want to know. Tell me everything you know. I want to know who Cthulhu is, who he was."

"Lucky..." Shadow began.

"My lord, I just let him drive a cursed dagger into my gut." Lucky's fur was bristling. "I'm sorry for any disrespect I'm showing, but I think I deserve to know who he is, why he's evil, and who killed him."

"I can answer the third question," Ivan said. "No, forget it. I can answer all of them."

Lucky's eyes blazed. "Tell me."

Blue eyes met green steadily. Ivan told her.

* * *

**Betcha didn't see THAT coming! And yes, people, CTHULHU ESS TURNIN GOOD! Man, I was just champing at the bit to write this part! IT'S MAH FAVRITE PART!**

**Lucky: Hey, I JUST DIED!! HOW IS THAT YOUR FAVORITE PART?!**

**It just is, because it brings some major character development into the picture! And this chapter was heeella long.**

**At your disposal (sort of),**

**Adderstar of ValorClan**


	12. Chapter 12

Flippy dragged his feet as he made his way back to the blood-strewn ground where his best friend had been killed. The fact that her body was no longer there came as no surprise to him. That was the way the knife worked; it cleaned up after itself. Except...

A red-brown stain had been left behind, and the stench of death lingered in the air. Fighting back tears, Flippy forced down the bile that was rising in his throat. Unable to hold back both, he focused on keeping from throwing up while letting his tears flow unchecked.

Two others had joined Vance, Flaky, and Itch: to Flippy's dismay, Boomer and Jake. The latter was staring at his father looking lie he couldn't decide whether to burst into tears or spit fire. Boomer simply stared sadly at the red smear as if he'd never smile again.

Itch was looking at Flippy, his eyes wide and dry, his face stone-smooth and expressionless. Flippy gazed back. "Itch..." His youngest son slowly backed away, turned, and ran. Flaky followed him, throwing an understanding glance over her shoulder. "I'm... sorry..." Flippy murmured, half to Itch and half to Lucky's family.

Suddenly, Jake could no longer contain himself. With a feral-sounding scream, the cat-weasel threw himself at Flippy and began pummeling his stomach with both paws. "This is all your fault!" he yelled. "She's dead because of you!"

Flippy held the grief-stricken cat-weasel at arm's length, trying to placate him. "Jake, I'm sorry! I tried--"

"You should have tried harder!"

"Jake!" Vance grabbed his son by the arm. Sobbing, Jake tore away from his father's grip and ran off in the direction Itch had taken.

With a sigh, Flippy glanced at Boomer, expecting another stream of accusations. But the calmer cat-weasel simply looked at him sadly. "I-it's all right, Flippy," he said, struggling and failing to keep his voice from breaking. "I know you did your best, and my m-mom would n-never ask for any more than... than that." Boomer broke down and sobbed. "Sh-she doesn't know! Ari doesn't know!"

Flippy stared at him sadly, two struck dumb by what he had just allowed to happen to notice the blur of brown at the corner of his vision. By the time he turned his head, it was too late to avoid Vance's clenched paw.

The weasel punched him viciously, knocking him to the ground. Flippy wiped blood from his split lip with the back of his paw as Vance glared down at him with tears glittering in his eyes.

"Dad!" Boomer drew himself up to his tallest height. "It's not his fault!" Tiny rivulets streamed down his face. "Do you think Mom would want to see you acting like this?" Vance recoiled as if he'd been struck. "Well?!"

Looking contrite, Vance turned to Flippy. "Flippy, I'm sorry... I just..."

"No, it's fine--" Flippy picked himself up slowly. "Jake's right... I could've tried harder."

"Don't be an idiot!" Boomer burst out. The two adults stared at him, shocked, but he carried on nonetheless. "M-my mom did a selfless thing, and you blaming yourself just makes that worthless!" He noticed the taken aback looks they had on their faces. "I'm sorry for yelling, but--"

Vance knelt by him, placing both paws on his son's shoulders. "Marty," he said quietly. "If I didn't know better, I would've thought that was your mother chastising us just know." His grip tightened. "She's proud of you, you hear me? And so am I."

Boomer's lower lip trembled, and he let out another sob. "I-I miss her, Dad."

The weasel held his son's face gently and kissed the top of his head. "So do I, son. So do I."

Flippy glanced at the sky, letting the sun dry the tears on his face. _Why'd you have to die, Lucky? We need you. We can't do this without you._

* * *

Needles fiddled absentmindedly with the Rubiks cube, twisting and turning it aimlessly. The brightness of ailment was gone from her eyes, and her fever was more or less nonexistant, as if her illness had been swapped for this deep, unbearable grief.

She prefered the illness.

Splash was absolutely inconsolable. He crouched in the corner of his room with his face buried in a pillow, sobbing uncontrollably.

The door slammed. Setting aside her puzzle cube, Needles watched as Itch stormed past her bedroom door and slammed his own behind him. Flaky past next and knocked carefully on it. "Itch, please! Be reasonable, it's not your father's fault--"

"N-no. Go a-away."

"But Itch--"

"G-go away."

With a sigh, Flaky obeyed. Needles decided to try her luck. Hopping down from her bed, she stood at her brother's closed door and rapped on it. "Itch?"

"G-go away, N-needles!"

"But--"

There was a dull thud as something was hurled against the door. "L-leave me a-alone!"

_Alright, that's it! I have just about had it with him! Needles, do me a favor and move over, will you?_

Needles complied, allowing her demon to take control of her.

Reaper burst into the room, her blue eyes glaring with disgust at Itch. The latter scowled. "W-what do y-you want?"

"You make me _sick_." That was Reaper's version of tact.

"E-excuse me?"

"You heard me," Reaper snarled. "I am sick and tired of you taking your dad for granted!"

"T-taking him f-fo-for gran-granted?! I-I got b-b-beat up be-because of h-him!"

"Did you really? Or were you beat up because two moronic cravens wanted something to punch around that was too small to hit back?" Reaper was absolutely seething. "Do you have any idea how he might be feeling right now? His best friend was killed!"

"He sh-should have t-tried harder!"

"There is no 'trying harder' when you're fighting possession!" Reaper snapped. "When it comes to that, you're either cowering at the back of your subconscious and not doing shit, or you're throwing yourself against mind barriers for all you're worth! If he was trying at all, you'd better believe he was trying as hard as he would ever try to do anything in his entire life! Have you ever been possessed before? News flash! NO YOU HAVE NOT! And guess what! Scab, one of the aforementioned moronic cravens, is now under possession! Have you seen Chig lately? It's like he's dying inside! Scab probably is too!"

"And your point is?"

"My point is, you don't know what you're talking about, and you know it. So stop acting like you do!"

Itch looked away stubbornly.

"You know, with you it's always just ME, ME, ME! Well guess what, you're in desperate need of a good dose of reality, so just SHUT UP AND PAY ATTENTION! Your dad has been dealing with that demon for longer than you've been alive! He does NOT need his son shunning him no matter what he does! How do you think he felt when he found out you were being tormented? He didn't know until it was almost too late to help you, because you were too chicken to open your mouth!" Itch flinched, but Reaper carried on ruthlessly. "Cthulhu's been using him to kill people for years! How do you think it feels to have people fear you for something that's not your fault? And what do YOU do?" The demon was successfully driving herself into a towering rage. Her bared canines flashed as she railed him angrily. "Instead of trying to lessen his pain, you BLAME him for your own! Selfish! You're a self-centered, uncaring little twerp! If Lucky could see you now, she'd give you a good hard slap upside your empty head!" With a lash of her spiked tail, she turned and stormed out of the room.

* * *

In the deserted living room, Cthulhu stood unnoticed in the mirror. Not that he minded that no one noticed him, though.

Tracing a paw over the impenetrable glass barrier that separated him from the world of the living, Cthulhu thought back to when he first discovered that he could actually leave the confining minds of the living, if only to watch from a reflective surface. At first, he'd thought he could only do this by appearing as his host's reflection. Imagine his delight when he found that he could do this whenever he wanted, wherever he wanted, and appear as himself. But when he'd first discovered this latter fact, he'd no intentions of taking advantage of it. He'd hated the very face of the person he'd been during his lifetime, a face he'd sworn to leave behind forever after death. But after the incident thirteen years ago, in Crossroads, when he'd been reminded of what it was like to move on his own quite freely without someone pounding at the back of a mind that he was only 'borrowing', he'd realized that his original face, fur, and appearance... had been sorely missed.

He didn't look exactly the same, though. No, he now had a permanent red, jagged reminder of why he should not underestimate enemies, cut into his face like an engraving was cut in stone.

Underestimate enemies... why did that not sound quite right? Lucky had been his enemy, hadn't she? Well? Hadn't she?

And how had she known he had a brother?

Something twitched in the back of his mind. No, not the mind he 'shared' with Flippy. His own mind. It was just a twitch. A stupid little twitch that set off a stream of images that had been locked away in the farthest reaches of his memory for longer than they should have been.

_He stared through tear-filled blue eyes at the other gray cub, who was struggling to open the window. "B-but Ivan, where can we go?"_

_"Anywhere, bro. Anywhere but here."_

_"But he'll just come after us! He always finds us whenever we try to hide!"_

_His brother turned back and met his eyes squarely. "I'm not going to change my mind. We won't gain anything by staying here."_

_Slowly, he looked back and forth between his brother, who stood poised by the window, ready to climb out, to the doorway. "I-I don't know, Ivan..."_

_"Brother." Blue eyes, bright with emotion, bore into his. "You only ever get one chance to say, 'I need you to do this with me.'" He held out one paw. "And you know there's only one way to answer that."_

_"I... I'd follow you anywhere, brother. Just lead the way. But... it's not just because I'm scared..." His voice trailed off._

_"I can't stay here," his brother said. "But I can't leave you behind for no good reason. We have to--"_

_"And what about Mom?" he interrupted. "Have you thought about her? If he finds us gone, what will she do? I can't just... I'm not going to leave her, Ivan!"_

_His brother paused, immediately torn by indecision. "But I... We'll never get another chance like this again! What if we took Mom with us?"_

_"He'll just find us all! He'd kill us, Ivan!"_

_"If you stay and I'm gone, what will he do to you?" his brother demanded._

_"Nothing worse than what he's already done so far!" His eyes sparked. "You go, Ivan. Get out of here. You were always stronger than me."_

_"But--"_

_"But nothing! There's no other way! I won't leave, you won't stay. You could survive out there. Me... I'm just a weakling."_

_"No you aren't!" his brother argued emphatically._

_"I can't even stand up for myself without you right next to me! It's time for me to learn!"_

_With a sigh of resignition, his brother clasped his paw warmly. "I promise you, I'll come back. I'll come back once we're both bigger, and together we can both stand up to him. Then we can take Mom, and... and the three of us can be a family!"_

_"Promise?" He could feel tears welling up in his eyes._

_His brother hugged him warmly. "You're like a part of me. Leaving you behind would be like leaving behind my left leg. I'm always there for you, even when I'm miles away. We'll still be brothers. Nothing can change that." Then Ivan was gone._

With some difficulty, Cthulhu pulled himself out of the whirlwind of memories. A sob escaped his lips, and he pounded the surface of his glass prison with a clenched paw. In doing so, he slipped the left sleeve of his sweatshirt back an inch, revealing the scars of long-healed cuts slashed across his wrist. His pointed teeth clenched, and he slid one paw beneath his sweatshirt to feel his back. His blood turned to ice water. _Damn it..._

The demon glanced down at his right foot, the one that was permanently twisted even after death. He felt the furrow in the fur on his throat, the reminder of the last wound he ever got.

Another image, more faded and cloudy than the other, appeared in his mind.

_Pain... he could feel nothing but pain, in both his neck and his foot. Blood dripped from the torn hole in his throat as he stared across at his brother, who was crouched on all fours over a growing puddle of red. His brother's voice, thick with pain and shaky with sobs, reached his ears._

_"You're trying… to make me… hate you. But I could never hate you. I'm your brother... Nothing either of us does will change that, and… and nothing you do will make me… love you… less." His vision faded, right as his brother's head slowly dropped forward into the pool of blood._

Cthulhu threw himself at the glass wall, pressing his forehead against the cold surface. It felt as though someone was tearing a hole in his chest and ripping his heart completely out. He felt the urge to throw up, but he was dead, after all. He didn't have the ability to throw up.

_What... What the hell is happening to me?_ The demon screamed inwardly. All at once, Lucky's words came back to him.

"_Stranger to kindness, aren't you? Never shown it... never been shown it... it's no wonder you never had a chance. Well I've just given you one. Don't waste it._"

The demon struck the glass surface with a clenched paw. "God damn it." he snarled. "God _damn_ it! I am so FUCKING STUPID!" How could he have been such an idiot? He hadn't learned from anything, had he? He'd just made the same mistake all over again, for the third goddamn time! First Ivan... then Ruby... and finally Lucky! Why did he have a talent for murdering everyone who seemed to give a pile of crap about what happened to him? Everyone who wanted to help him, he killed. And what did he gain? He answered his own question out loud. "Nothing. NOTHING!" Slumping down against the glass wall, the demon stared down at his paws, imagining them stained with blood both stale and freshly spilled. He had doomed himself.

_I can't do anything right. I haven't done anything right since my brother escaped out the window that night._ Eyes bright, the demon placed a paw over his throat, over the very spot where his brother had stabbed him. "Y-you said you'd always be there for me." His voice trembled, but no tears would come this time. "But you're not. And it's my fault... It's all my fault."

"I imagined you doing a lot of things, dillhole, but this was definitely not one of them." Cthulhu looked up sharply to see the young demon Reaper standing in the same mirror.

"What're you doing here? Come to strangle me?"

"I planned to do something along those lines when I first came in here..." Reaper replied, rocking back and forth on her feet. "And I'm not going to repeat what I've seen here. No one would believe me anyway, and this is something you have to decide for yourself."

"There's nothing for me to decide!" Cthulhu snapped. "I can't do a damn thing now!"

"Hey, you made your bed, now you gotta sleep in it. But that doesn't mean you can't do anything about it."

"I screwed up! You wouldn't understand, you're just a kid for one thing, and for another you've never been through anything like this!"

"Neither did Lucky, I don't think," the younger demon said with a shrug. "That didn't stop her from understanding you, did it? Is there a reason why the kids seem to be the only ones around who have any common sense at all? Also, I really do understand you."

"And how is that?"

She stared at him and spoke slowly as though she was explaining something to a baby. "You _made_ me, idiot." She scuffed her tail. "And also I'm one of the reasons Lucky knew you weren't as evil as you could be. I didn't come from your hatred, dillhole. I came from what little good you had left. Keep moving forward, demon. It's the only thing you can do now. You screwed up, now you gotta make up for it."

"What's the point?" Cthulhu snarled. "They'll loathe me whatever I do."

"Whatever your decision is, I hope your brown-nosing is up to par, because you have a boatload of asses to kiss right now. But for now... that Kraken guy has two of Needles' friends at his mercy. He isn't getting away with anything." She vanished from the mirror.

Cthulhu stood and placed his paw against the mirror surface. _I've got to make things right._

* * *

When Ivan had finished his story, Lucky was staring at him with abject horror in her eyes. Her ears were laid back, and both paws covered her mouth. "That's... that's _horrible!_ Wh-what happened after you left?"

Ivan gave her a long look before slowly transferring his gaze to Lilia, who was deep in conversation with Shadow. "Only she knows what happened to him, up til she killed herself. Between that and when I next saw him, no one knows but him."

"When you next saw him?"

"By then his reputation had grown. He was running with a gang in the area I found him in. When we were face-to-face again, finally after more than a decade, he was a completely different person. Maybe I was, too. But the things he did... he was a cold-blooded killer when I found him. The bond we'd shared when we were kids was more or less nonexistant. He was still my brother, but he wasn't... you know what I mean."

"So what'd you do?" Lucky pressed carefully, knowing she was entering a tender subject.

"I knew he'd changed, but I also knew that I was still his brother. When he fell down, I was always there to pick him back up, and vice versa. That was the way when we were kids. But we weren't kids anymore." Tears were overflowing from his eyes as he forced himself to continue. "You have to understand, I still loved him no matter what he did. But the things he did... I couldn't let him continue like that! I knew if he did, he'd eventually get caught by someone, most likely a vengeful relative of someone he killed. If that happened, who knows how long it would take for him to die? I couldn't let that happen to him, any more than I could just let him turn into... So I tracked him down. I found him. And... and I... He didn't even recognize me at first, and he tried to murder me. But I didn't blame him. No, I could never blame him, I could never hate him. But I had to stop him."

"You killed him." There was no accusation in Lucky's voice, only the utmost sympathy.

"I didn't kill him because I hated him, I killed him because I loved him! It was the only thing I could do!"

"I realize that," Lucky said gently. "No one with a scrap of common sense would blame you. I for one don't."

"But I do," Ivan sobbed. "That's why I need to do this. I have to talk to him. I just have to know for myself that I did the right thing."

"You did the right thing," Lilia assured him, stepping forward. "Unlike me. I just couldn't take the pain anymore, and I took the easy way out." A tremor ran through the angel's body. "I was a coward, and now I'm becoming one again. I used to be so keen to speak to him, to apologize. Now... I'm not even sure if I could bring myself to face him."

To Lucky's surprise, Ivan turned to glare at her. "You'd better!" he snapped. "It's the least you can do!"

"Ivan..." Lucky attempted to placate him.

"He stayed for you!" Ivan burst out suddenly. Lilia recoiled as if he'd punched her, looking shocked. Clearly, this was news to her. "I begged him to escape with me, but he didn't! He stayed because he knew you'd never leave! Because he wanted to stay with you! And then what do you do? You abandon him after he sacrificed his freedom so you wouldn't have to be alone!"

"Ivan... why didn't you tell me?" she said hoarsely.

"Because after you died... I knew if I told you, it'd destroy you. Now I have to tell you, because it's the only way to make sure you make things right! I can't force you to do anything, Mom. All I can do is shove you forward."

Then Shadow spoke for the first time. "It's almost time," he announced. "Time here passes differently, more quickly than in the world of the living. Are you ready, Ivan?"

The gray bear met his gaze firmly. "I died ready."

* * *

**Flashbacks! I love flashbacks! Almost as much as I love CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT! And Itch gets his ass chewed out by Reaper. She may be a vulgar little scrap of demon, but she has an old head on young shoulders. Yes sirree, that she does.**

**Once again, that chapter was heeeella long.**

**At your disposal (sort of),**

**Adderstar of ValorClan**


	13. Chapter 13

"Boomer, are you _crazy?_"

The cat-weasel sighed. He knew this would be Splash's immediate reaction. "Might you hear me out before screaming at me?" he asked politely.

"Spiker tried the same thing, and look what happened to him!" the bearcupine said angrily. "What makes you think we can do any different?"

"If we work together, we can!" Boomer insisted. "Besides, we can think about how we'll do this, and we can use all of our strengths to pull this off. Unlike Spiker the galloping bearcupine, we plan ahead. We be patient, observe, try to gather information from the adults."

"I don't know, Boomer..."

"There's you, me, Jake maybe, Itch, and Needles. That's five of us. I think we can do it." There was a light of determination in Boomer's eyes. "I'm part cat, good reflexes, I can see in the dark, and I'm quiet. You have that tail thing, and I know how fast on your feet you are. Jake's a good fighter, haven't seen him beat yet, Itch has good ears, Needles... well, you know. See? If we put our strengths together, we have a chance!"

Splash hesitated. "...Okay. We'll talk this over with the others. I'll see you later."

From the bathroom mirror across the hall, Cthulhu watched as Boomer left as quickly as he could. A small smile crossed his face. That cat-weasel wasn't short of nerve, that was for sure. He knew how to bounce back. But Boomer was right, of course. Patience was the key to success.

"Should I tell Flippy?" the demon mused aloud to himself. "He might not believe me even if I-- uh-oh." Needles had walked by and spotted him in the mirror. For a few seconds, two pairs of blue eyes locked.

Needles looked down and gave her Rubix cube a twist, solving one side of it but leaving the rest a jumble of colors. She turned it over and over in her paws, examining it. "Don' do nothin' stupid," she advised. "An' try not ta be hurt if nobody believes a word ya say."

Blinking in surprise, Cthulhu replied, "I'll keep that in mind."

"Hm." With that, Needles strode off, still muttering and fiddling with her puzzle cube.

* * *

It wasn't until a day later that Flippy remembered what Lucky had told him. As quickly as he could, he sought out Vance. The weasel was standing alone, his shades resting back against his forehead. His amber eyes were dry and red, as if he had run out of tears.

"Vance!" Flippy called. The weasel turned around, dislodging his sunglasses from there position so that they fell back down onto his nose lopsidedly. Vance quickly straightened them.

"Yes?"

"There's something I have to tell you," the bear said. "I'm not too sure what she meant by this, probably because she told you something."

"What was it?" the weasel asked curiously.

"She was smiling for some reason," Flippy continued. "I dunno... she couldn't have looked happier if she'd won the lottery. She looked like she'd won something, though. Right before she died, she looked me straight in the eye, and she told me, 'I was right. I was right all along. Tell Vance I was right.' Do you know what she meant by this?"

Vance stared at him incredulously. "She said that? Are you sure?"

"Completely sure, but I don't know what she means."

The weasel didn't seem to hear him. "How could she say that, after he'd just killed her? I told her he was evil, but she didn't listen. And she got herself... killed... and she said she was right all along? How could she say that?"

"Vance, what is she right about?" Flippy demanded.

"I don't think she's right about anything, but apparently she does!" the weasel snapped, kicking the ground in hopeless anger.

"About what?" Flippy pressed. "What'd she tell you?"

"A lot of things, none of which made any sense whatsoever." Vance sighed. "Everything's becoming so unnecessarily confusing."

"Vance." Flippy's voice was calm but demanding. "What did she tell you?"

But the weasel turned and walked away. "It's not important," he said. "Besides, if I told you, you'd probably sucker punch me or something."

Kicking up dust in his frustration, Flippy walked back to his house. Why wasn't anyone telling him anything? Everyone was distancing themselves from each other, becoming more and more disheartened now that Lucky had died.

_Hey, Flippy, there's something I gotta tell you._

Sudden anger flared in Flippy's stomach at the sound of the demon's voice._ Unless it's an announcement that you're going to go screw yourself up the--_

_No need for that, I just wanted to let you know that... aw, screw it, you won't believe me anyway. I'll see you later._

_THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!_

_No need to shout. If you must know, it was an accident. And believe me when I say that that's a big thing for me to admit._

Flippy clenched his teeth angrily._ Liar._

_No really, it's actually pretty huge for me to say out loud... well, maybe not out loud... that I had an accident. Oh... crap, that didn't sound nearly as gross in my head. Er, your head. My mind? Damn it, possession is so confusing._

_Are you complaining, you snot-faced son of a--_

_Jee-sus, will you lighten up?_

"LIGHTEN UP?!" Flippy realized that he was yelling out loud; fortunately, there was no one around. _You killed my best friend, you bastard! I will kill you, Cthulhu, if it means slitting my own throat with Ruby's dagger!_

_...Well, I guess I shouldn't be too pissed off that you aren't listening to a single word I'm saying._ The demon's tone was tight and strained.

_No, you shouldn't!_

Flippy's eyes burned. "One of these days, Cthulhu, I'll kill you," he snarled out loud. "I'll find a way to kill you."

A black squirrel leapt out in front of him suddenly, her royal blue eyes hot with anger.

The bear stared at her, recognizing Hel instantly. "What--?"

"You FOOL!" she hissed scathingly. "Short-sighted, blind fool! Your eyes are all you use to see!"

"Well, yeah. I can't exactly see with my ears, can I?" Flippy said sardonically. He was really not in the mood for this.

"Yes, you can!" Hel insisted angrily. "Have you not _listened?_ Those without sight can do only that! Yes? YES?!"

"I'm not blind! I can see!"

"It would be better if you were," the squirrel shot back cryptically. "Some with eyes see better than others with eyes, some without eyes see better than all those with. Use your eyes, your ears, your brain, your heart! What is true sight? Seeing with one's eyes, or seeing the full truth?"

Flippy could only stare, aghast, at the angry little creature who was glaring at him. The biggest, most confusing scolding he'd ever received in his life was being given to him by seemingly half-insane little girl squirrel.

Hel lashed her bristling tail irritably, and for one nostalgic moment Flippy was reminded of Lucky. The squirrel glared at him. "A tale must be told and heard. _Heard._ What is the point of telling a tale if no one listens?"

"What tale?" Flippy asked. Then he realized what she was going to talk about. _Oh God, is she going to..._

"Tales of hearts and spirits broken, words of misery long unspoken! You have not listened, have you? Tales of hearts and spirits broken, words of misery long unspoken."

_...yep._

"Stubborn," Hel muttered darkly to herself before meeting Flippy's eyes with her intense royal blue stare. Her voice softened to its normal subdued whisper. "In a single tale, there are a thousand more left unheard. Sometimes, our character is decided by whether or not we have the _ears_ to _listen_. Yes?"

Flippy stared at her, mystified. "What do you mean?"

Rather than answering him, Hel produced a string seemingly from nowhere. Without meeting Flippy's eyes, she spoke in a hushed tone. "Strings, ropes, cords, bonds, they're all the same. Bonds... some can never be broken. Such bonds are what drive us. Yes? Bonds of friendship, of brethren, of blood relations. Of love. A bond was never broken, only lost, misplaced. One is what drives Hel. Hel toward her brothers... wolf and serpent. You know them? Hel does."

The bear was reminded of the origin of the name 'Hel', from mythology. "Hel... that's the goddess of the Norse Underworld, isn't it? She's the daughter of the god Loki, right? Sister of... Fenris and Jormungand, a giant wolf and the Midgard serpent. Is that what you're talking about?"

Hel kept her gaze on the string. "Do you know of demon names? Names such as Cthulhu, Kraken, Cerberus... and Fenris and Jormungand."

"You mean," Flippy said carefully. "That two of your brothers are demons? Just who are you?"

"Misled, they were," Hel replied. "I'll tell you a story, my friend, of a child. A child with two brothers, whom she loved. They fell upon desperate times, they did, all three of them. Orphans, all of them. Two were misled, drawn to a life of evil, and killed. All because of desperation, poverty, starvation. As for the sister, she perished from hunger. She could have rested then, but she did not want to. She loved her brothers, oh she did! But they were apart now, all of them, yes. Her siblings, they were never evil. Only forced to do evil. They were demons now, with demon names. They kept their goodness, they did. They never forgot their own bond. They were brothers, and named themselves for brothers. One was driven half-mad by the flames of retribution, a retribution they did not deserve. Their sister... she forgot her own name in her grief and compassion, but she too remembered the bond, she did. Named herself for the sister of the brothers. Hel she was from then on, Hel she is to this day."

"...You're a spirit?"

"I'll tell you another tale," Hel continued, again without acknowledging his question. "Of another child, from a different time. He did not fall upon any desperate times, for he was born into them, yes. He had a brother, who he loved. But..." She pulled the string taut between her paws before snapping it. "The rest is not for me to tell."

"Why'd you break the string?" Flippy asked. "I thought you said that these 'bonds' of yours couldn't be broken."

"Bonds of mine? This bond is not mine. And did I say that all bonds are invincible? Some can be broken..." Hel gazed at the broken string. Slowly, she took the frayed, snapped ends and tied them together. "...And if or when they are reforged, they are twice as strong as before." She pulled it, but the knot reinforced the string and kept it from snapping. Finally, she met the bear's eyes. "Do you see now?"

"I'm not sure..." Flippy said uncertainly.

"You will see, sooner or later," Hel informed him quietly, turning to go.

"Wait-- what did Lucky tell Vance that she's so right about?"

"Many things," the squirrel replied.

"What was one of them?"

Hel paused for a moment before replying. It was clear she was quoting the cat directly. "'I know there's such a thing as evil. I just don't think that all there is to it is doing bad things.'" The squirrel hesitated again. "Do you still trust her?"

"With my life, even though..." Flippy felt tears threatening to fall again.

"Good. Trust her. She has clearer sight than anyone. And not just the sight that comes of having eyes." Suddenly the squirrel brought her face close until their noses were inches apart. Her whiskers trembled as she murmured sibilantly, "Everyone flees from the nightmare... but sometimes the nightmare himself... has bad dreams... When caught in dark places... choose your friends well... and choose your enemies. Neither are far away... " The squirrel blinked once before drawing back. "A battle draws near," she told him. "An ally can be found in an unexpected place, if only you choose to look. May Fate be kind." With that, the squirrel disappeared into the trees.

Flippy stared after her. _That was strange. I wonder what she meant? An ally in an unexpected place? I hope so. Of course I choose to look! We need all the help we can get. But what did she mean, and what did Lucky mean? Why does everyone have to talk in circles?_

"Well, what's the most unexpected place?" he mused aloud as he opened the front door. "Gah, I don't know! I hate this."

"Hey, Flippy, let me ask you something." Flippy whirled around to face the speaker. It was Cthulhu, standing in the mirror. There was a tinge of red in the whites of his eyes. "Do I ever give the impression of the kind of guy who slits his own wrists?" He slammed his forearm against the surface of the mirror. The left sleeve of his sweatshirt was rolled back slightly, exposing slash scars in the area where his paw joined with the rest of the limb.

Flippy was taken aback. "Wh-what?"

"Just thought I'd bring that up," the demon said angrily. "Look, I'm sorry. I really am. But I--"

"'Sorry'?" Flippy snarled angrily. "You killed my best friend, and you're 'sorry'?"

"OKAY!" Cthulhu roared suddenly. "I give up! I'm done!" Fury glittered in his blue eyes as he turned and vanished from the mirror.

Suddenly, he noticed that there was music coming from the hallway. He followed it curiously, stopping at Itch's bedroom. A song he didn't recognize could be heard through the cracks around the door. Cautiously, knowing that his youngest son still avoided him, he opened it.

Itch sat with his back to the door, listening to music. The bearcupine didn't seem to notice his father's presence as he sang along softly, without any trace of his speech impediment. Flippy noticed that he had a surprisingly good voice.

"In the land of a thousand souls we will carry on through the rain  
In the sun we will move along with the memories of the slain  
When I see this humanity and the evil that they have come to be  
We've come to the point of no return and you beg for just...

One more time to escape from all this madness  
One more time to be set free from all this sadness  
And one last time to be the one who understands  
My soul and my spirit will go on, my soul and spirit wil go on, for all of eternity..."

The song ended, and Itch switched off the boom box. Without turning around, he spoke. "I d-don't st-stut-stutter when I s-sing, D-dad."

Flippy jumped; he couldn't help it. "Itch, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to spy on you..."

His son didn't seem to hear his apology. "L-Lucky g-gave me the C-CD f-for my b-birth-birthday. Th-that one w-was her f-f-favorite."

The bear's heart twisted in anguish. "Itch... do you really hate me?"

Tears dripped down his son's face as he slowly shook his head. "I'm sorry, Dad, I didn't mean it! I didn't mean any of it..."

Flippy hugged him gently. "It's okay, Itch, I know..."

"A-are you m-m-mad at me, D-dad?"

"Of course not. And I'm sorry, too. I should have told you." Flippy held his son's shoulders at arm's length. "We'll get through this, Itch. We'll get your brother and Ari back. I promise!"

Itch wiped his eyes, and a smile lit up his face. "We'll be doing it for Lucky?"

The bear tousled his head, sending up a small cloud of dandruff. "Exactly." Something white caught his eye suddenly. There was a folded piece of paper in the CD case. "Hey, Itch, what's that?"

"Dunno," he replied, shrugging. "I didn't notice it before."

Flippy unfolded it and immediately recognized Lucky's handwriting.

_By the time anyone reads this, I'm probably already dead. That way it doesn't matter if you know my thoughts. I'm tired of cynicism._

_I have needed to confide in someone about my suspicions. I've already tried talking to Vance, but it seems Shadow's right. If Cthulhu is going to start talking, I am probably the only one who'll listen. So for now I will only write it down on paper, to be read only in the rare case that that fathead demon manages to kill me. If Cthulhu's the one reading this, no offense intended. I will receive no criticism or cynicism, but I won't get any encouragement either._

_Hel has been badgering me for a while now with her weird little rhymes and metaphors, and for years now I've considered a possibility. Maybe we've been going about this wrong. Just yesterday, Hel finished reciting the rest of that incessant rhyme she keeps repeating, and I just know she's talking about Cthulhu._

_I know I'm questioning something that everyone firmly believes. That's why I can't say this out loud to anyone._

_Has Cthulhu done terrible things? Of course. But is he truly evil?_

_I'm not so sure anymore._

Flippy stared at the writing, aghast. "_I've already tried talking to Vance..."_ Was this the thing she said she was right about? But how could she say she was right all along about Cthulhu not being completely evil, just minutes after he'd killed her?

* * *

The door creaked open, and light from outside illuminated the dark room. Spiker backed away from the dog, and he felt Ari do the same next to him.

Kraken smiled down at them brightly, and for a moment he looked as innocent as a small child. Wide honey-brown eyes lit up his scarred face, giving him an almost friendly look. But neither of the prisoners were fooled. Both of them bore marks and bruises as signs of their captor's sadistic cruelty.

"Just wanted to give you two freaks a bit of news from the outside world," Kraken announced. "Particularly to you, girl. Seems your mother's met her match. Cursed knife in the gut."

Ari's green eyes widened. "What did you say?"

"The cat's dead, kiddo." Kraken's wide-eyed innocent look did not match the snarl that curled his voice. "Makes it easier for me, doesn't it?"

"That's a lie..." Spiker growled under his breath.

The friendly eyes turned to him. "What was that?"

"I said..." Spiker raised his voice boldly. "That's a filthy lie!"

Kraken's clenched paw connected solidly with his face, knocking him backward. "I don't lie about death, kid. Believe me or don't, it's all the same to me." With that, he left. The door slammed behind him.

Ari's face was straight and emotionless, and she made no sound as tears poured from her eyes.

* * *

**This chapter took a little longer than the others... partly because I've been distracted... CUZ MY BROTHER DOWNLOADED FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST! YEAH! And we finished watching it, including the movie... it was very cool... 'cept the ending was kind of unfulfilling. But that's just my opinion. Whatev. Hopefully the manga will be better.**

**I'm kind of basing Kraken off of Ferahgo the Assassin from the book Salamandastron, part of the Redwall series by Brian Jacques. Cruel, sadistic, falsely friendly.**

**At your disposal (sort of),**

**Adderstar of ValorClan**


	14. Chapter 14

Flippy continued to gaze at what Lucky had written, reading it over and over again to make sure he hadn't misread anything.

"Dad, what is it?" Itch asked.

"Something I gotta figure out," Flippy said truthfully. This seemed to satisfy Itch, who nodded understandingly.

Splash appeared at the doorway suddenly. "Hey Itch, c'mere a sec! I gotta talk to you about something!"

"Coming, Splash!" Itch paused, turning back to Flippy. "Dad? You can do it. I know you can!"

"I hope so, Itch," Flippy sighed, stuffing the paper into his jacket pocket. As he made his way toward the front door, it hit him like a ton of bricks.

_A tale must be told and heard. _Heard_. What is the point of telling a tale if no one listens?_

_I know there's such a thing as evil. I just don't think that all there is to it is doing bad things._

_Has Cthulhu done terrible things? Of course. But is he truly evil? __I'm not so sure anymore._

_An ally can be found in an unexpected place._

Flippy's eyes strayed to the mirror, where Cthulhu was sitting lethargically in the reflection. The demon didn't seem to notice him as he scowled down at his own wrists. Even from the distance, Flippy could see the thin razor scars he had been first shown only minutes before.

"A tale unheard," Flippy murmured. "You have got to be kidding me."

* * *

_Took him long enough,_ Cthulhu thought angrily as he continued staring down at the results of his self-mutilation.

"No way," Flippy muttered, half to himself. "I'm finding another way. There has to be another way."

"Of course there is," Cthulhu replied, barely keeping the snarl out of his voice. "There's always another way. Just ignore me and get on with your stupid life."

"Gladly," Flippy said icily. "I'd rather ask for help from the sewer rats than come crawling to you."

_Come crawling to me? That self-absorbed bastard! If anything, it would be me crawling to him!_ "You assume too much, Flippy."

"No, you do if you think I can just forgive you for no reason," Flippy shot back.

"Did I say I wanted your forgiveness?"

"No, but that doesn't mean you don't want it." Flippy glowered hatefully at him. "Don't think you're the only one who can see into the other's mind, Cthulhu. I catch bits and pieces."

Without thinking, Cthulhu stood and slammed the mirror with a clenched paw. "There you have it! Bits and pieces! You only ever catch bits and pieces, and you think you know everything, don't you!" Tears of anger stung in his blue eyes, but he forced them back savagely. "When you hear that my mom killed herself when I was twelve, you assume it was because I'M JUST EVIL! When you hear I killed my dad when I was fourteen, you assume it's because I'M JUST EVIL! When I kill Lucky, you assume I'M JUST EVIL!"

"Maybe that's because YOU JUST ARE!" Flippy retorted.

Cthulhu slumped down into sitting position again. A bitter laugh escaped him suddenly. "Heh... Lucky was right, it looks like. She was the only one who was trying to help me." Ignoring Flippy, he laughed again, shaking his head. "I am such an idiot." _I guess I never did amount to anything in life..._ _Hopefully I can amount to something in death._ Turning back to the bear, he shrugged. "I guess in our own way we're all idiots, eh? In her own way, Lucky was an idiot."

"Shut up about Lucky," Flippy growled angrily. "Shut your mouth or I'll shut it for you."

"She was, like I said, in her own way," Cthulhu continued, knowing Flippy was firing off empty threats. "It takes just a little idiocy to taunt an angry demon on a rampage, try to turn a fight to the death into a psychiatric appointment. You have to admit it sounds a little idiotic."

"Can't argue with that," Flippy muttered almost inaudibly. "But that doesn't change the fact that you killed her. I won't forgive you, Cthulhu."

"Then that makes you worse than me," Cthulhu replied evenly. "That means you're soiling everything she stood for. At least I'm making an effort. All she wanted was to forgive me."

"I won't," Flippy replied stubbornly. "I refuse to."

Cthulhu stood up and faced him. "Then congratulations, Flippy," he said calmly. "You've just made everything she died for worthless." He held up his paws in resignation. "That's it. I give up. I tried, gave it my best shot, but as usual I have nothing to show for it. I tried raising the white flag, but you... I just... I'm done." With that, he left the mirror.

* * *

Flippy was left standing in front of the reflective glass, seething. He didn't want to hear anything the demon had to say. _He terrorized my life... he used me to hurt people I care about... He used people I care about to hurt me... And he expects me to just forgive him? I've been tormented by him for lifetimes, and he's acting like the wronged one! I can't forgive that!_

_And yet..._

Cthulhu's even words struck a chord within him somehow. Was it true? Had he just "made everything she died for worthless"? And wasn't Hel badgering him to "listen", "use more than just his eyes"?

_And yet..._

He couldn't just ignore the fact that the demon had made his life not only miserable, but never-ending.

_And yet..._

This was just too complicated, he decided.

"Flippy, is something wrong?" The bear turned to see Flaky standing there. She shrugged, smiling wryly as she added, "I mean, besides... you know."

Flippy bit his lip. "Flaky, can I ask you something?"

"Ask away."

"What would you say if, hypothetically, I were to ask a _certain individual_ for help?"

Flaky immediately seemed to sense what he meant. "Well, that depends... who would this 'certain individual' hypothetically be?"

"Cthulhu, maybe," Flippy replied nervously.

"Well, look at his history," Flaky said. "I mean, he's done nothing but harm to us all, and the one time he ever 'helped', he purposely made things worse than before. So, do you think he can be trusted?"

"Huh, that's what I said."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well, what if a friend told me that maybe he could be trusted?" Flippy asked.

"Again, that depends on who the friend is."

"Er... let's say Lucky."

"Lucky?" Flaky mulled this over for a couple of seconds. "Lucky was a smart cat. I'm sure she wouldn't say something like that unless she had an absolutely good reason. Why are you asking me this? Did Lucky tell you this?"

"Not directly, no, but she said it... quite clearly," Flippy answered.

"Hmm," was all Flaky could say. Then, as an afterthought, she added, "Sometimes I can't help but feel sorry for him, though."

"Why do you say that?"

"Well, leading a life like that... or afterlife or whatever... it's got to be lonely," Flaky replied. "I don't know. Sometimes I just wonder what would happen if someone, just once, showed him a little kindness." She shrugged again. "But those are just my thoughts on the matter. You seem to know him best, Flippy. I'm sure whatever you decide would be best."

Flippy sighed. "I'm just not so sure anymore. In this case, there's a fine line between doing the right thing and judging him. I mean, I think Lucky believed in him, Flaky. Am I being a bad friend by saying she was wrong?"

"Disagreeing doesn't make someone a bad friend. But not making any effort to try to understand... well, kind of does. But whatever decision you make... I'll support it all the way. I know you just want the best for us all."

"Thanks, Flaky," Flippy said with a small smile. "It's hard sometimes, carrying this on my shoulders."

Flaky smiled back. "If you ever need help, well... you have me, after all."

"I'm glad of that. There's just a lot of things I have to think about."

* * *

Splash breathed a sigh of relief when Itch told him what had happened. "I have to remember to thank Reaper for chewing you out. It's good to see you finally getting along with Dad again." His face became serious. "Itch, remember that thing I told you about the other day? Concerning Spiker and Ari?"

The younger bearcupine snapped to attention. "Y-yeah."

"We're doing it tomorrow morning. Boomer just told me today. It'll be you, me, Needles, Boomer, Jake, Toggle, and Spaz. Be ready."

"I-I will be, Sp-Splash."

* * *

As Ruby stalked silently through the woodlands, she had no intended destination in mind. All she wanted was to be alone with her thoughts. So much had been happening, after thirteen years of tranquil boredom.

Some inner intuition that came of being a demon made her pause in her tracks. She turned and glanced over her shoulder, and tried not to jump when she saw Cthulhu sitting against a tree just a ways behind her.

The fox hid her surprise by curling her lip. "Thought you had to stay in people's minds and reflective surfaces."

Cthulhu shrugged. "Nah, I can come out. But I can't really do anything, and nobody can see me, hear me, or feel me."

"I can hear and see you just fine," Ruby replied skeptically, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, yeah. You've died before, haven't you?"

Ruby simply snarled in reply. "That's thanks to you, ain't it?"

"Sorry."

That time, Ruby did jump. _Sorry?! Did he just apologize to me?!_ That was when she really stopped and looked at him.

His blue eyes had lost their secretive glint, and were now glassy and lifeless. They bore an empty look that she could barely stand to look at, but could not tear her eyes from. Somehow he seemed to have shrunk, and he had the air about him of someone who'd given up on everything that mattered. For a split second her heart twisted with pity.

_Maybe he's finally starting to realize that his life... eh... afterlife, sucks._

As if he could read her mind, Cthulhu glared up at her in a mixture of resentment and hopelessness. "What're _you_ lookin' at?"

Her sympathy vanished, to be replaced by scorn. "You think you're the most unfortunate person in the world, is that it?" She scoffed. "People like that piss me off."

Cthulhu averted his eyes. "Maybe I'm not the most unfortunate person, but I'm definitely in the running." For a moment he was silent. Then he let out a short, wry laugh. "I've really screwed up, haven't I?"

"_Why do I like you?_" Ruby muttered to the side, under her breath.

"What?"

"Nothing," the vixen said, trying not to sound defensive. "And yes, you've screwed up royally. But I guess it depends on how you look at it. You just killed one of the few who can last five minutes in a fight against you. Shouldn't you be dancing with joy?"

"It depends on how you look at it," Cthulhu replied. "You could say I killed one of the few who are a threat to me, or you could say I just killed the only one who was trying to help me. You never know what you got 'til it's gone. I already had very little. Now I have next to nothing. Is that a reason for me to dance with joy?"

"What are you playing at?" Ruby asked suspiciously, wary of any falsehood or trickery. "Are you trying to pull something over on me?"

Cthulhu winced. "There it is again," he said. "I've screwed up royally, so now nobody believes a single word out of my mouth."

"Gee, can you blame us?"

"Kind of," Cthulhu retorted. "What's it take to get a little understanding around here?"

"Nothing you could pay. Understanding you would have adverse effects on my digestive system."

Cthulhu laughed harshly. "Ruby, you have no idea. Just like everyone else, you have no idea who I am."

Ruby recoiled. "I tried to find that out once, and it got me killed! If no one knows who you are, that's your own fault!"

Suddenly, Cthulhu's eyes blazed angrily, and he got to his feet. "Who I am? Did you ever want to know? Well here!" He roughly pulled back the dark gray sleeve of his sweatshirt until his entire arm, just past the elbow, was visible. "This is who I am! This is what no one knows! This is why I screw up at everything I try to do!"

Scar traces showed through the gray fur on his entire arm, and the fur was thin and ragged in places where it had grown back patchily. They were clearly burn scars, but faint signs of old gashes were visible on his forearm and wrist. Rolling up his other sleeve, the gray bear revealed similar marks on his other arm.

As Ruby looked down, horrified, at the burn scars, she realized one thing: they were parallel curves, like part of a circle-within-a-circle pattern, as if he'd pressed his arm on a--

"Kitchen stove," Cthulhu said bitterly, rolling his sleeves back down. "He... he grabbed me once and held both arms on the kitchen stove, when it was glowing bright red with heat. He only did that once, but... that was one of the worst things he did."

Screwing up her courage, Ruby asked, "Wh-who?"

Cthulhu leaned back down against the tree, sneering stubbornly. "Now you want to know, do you? Fine. It's not like I care anymore. It was my dad. He was a mean son of a bitch, and I called him Steve. Ya happy?"

Ruby bit her lip. "What about the cuts?"

For a long while, he didn't answer. Ruby was ready to give up and walk away when he finally replied, "I was twelve when I started slitting my wrists. Can't blame me, though. My life, my family sucked. My dad was a bastard, my mom was a coward, and my brother..." He shrugged, and the dull, uncaring look returned to his face. "He probably hates me by now. Tried to make such a big thing about how he could never hate me... just seconds after he'd stabbed me in the throat and I shot him in the chest, when we were in our late teens to early twenties. Just seconds before we were both dead. I know better. He hates me. Just like everyone else." With that said, he turned to leave.

Ruby stared after him, not bothering to try to repress her sympathy. A strange feeling in her stomach gnawed at her. Things were a lot more complicated than before. "Cthulhu, wait."

He stopped and turned to face her. "Yes?"

The fox bit her lip again. "Everything you said to me... back when we were alive... was any of it ever real?"

She thought she heard a sharp intake of breath from him, but she couldn't be sure. Swallowing hard, he replied, "Yes. ...And you can believe me or not believe, whichever you choose. It's not like I care anymore."

Ruby searched his tone, his face, and his eyes for any signs of dishonesty, but found none. Her heart melted. Had it been his eyes that she'd fallen in love with? "I believe you."

This took him aback. "Y-you do?"

"Yes," she replied truthfully. "And Cthulhu, don't just give up whenever you run into a wall. If we all gave up on everything we started, we'd never get anything done." Her eyes glinted. "Don't be a crybaby, Cthulhu. It doesn't fit you."

Cthulhu grinned; it was the truest smile she'd ever seen on his face. "Yeah, I guess it doesn't. Thanks." He paused. "Oh, and Ruby?"

"Yes?"

He blinked meaningfully at her. "It's... it's Jonathan. My real name is Jonathan."

* * *

**Okee dokee. I couldn't resist adding some romance in there. Oh yeah, and now you finally know what Cthulhu's real name is! It's Jonathan! Some may think that's a bit anticlimactic but... hey, what did you expect me to call him, Edmond Dantes? (I think that name rocks, though). Seriously, though, there's a thing about me that if I name a character Jonathan, rest assured that the character will be pure 99.9 percent good! :D**

**I will not update again for a while, because I'll be away on my vacation for two weeks! So a lack of updates does not mean I've given up or I'm dead, it just means I'm on a high-adventure backpacking trip in desert weather where people are being helicoptered out once every five minutes, and it's about 115 degrees in the shade. Yay! (Either that or I'm slogging through The Count of Monte Christo. Damn summer reading assignments. Why couldn't they given me something shorter, like Silas Marner?)**

**At your disposal (sort of),**

**Adderstar of ValorClan**


	15. Chapter 15

**I'm back from my two-week vacation! So... to make up for how much I missed, here's an extra-long chapter! I just got back yesterday, but I've been writing the whole time just for you guys! hugs And happy late Independence day!**

**Oh, this is kind of embarrassing but... Toggle and Spaz, the two skunkcoons, no longer exist in this story. I took them out, simply because I could no longer write them in. I may have another story that actually co-stars them with Shifty and Petunia. If I actually do it, it will be called Shifty and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. And yes, I am quite serious.**

* * *

"Splash! Itch! Wait a sec!"

Splash turned to see Chigger the muskrat running toward him. "What do you want?" he snapped, his tail bristling.

"Listen, I heard of how you're planning to get Spiker, and Ari out, and--"

"W-what?" Itch challenged suspiciously.

"Look, my brother is in there." Chig's face became serious. "He's possessed, okay. I won't just stand by and let him--" The muskrat broke off, pressing his paws together pleadingly. "You have to let me be part of this, please!"

Splash glanced at Itch questioningly. His younger brother thought quite hard for a moment before nodding.

"G-g-guess I c-can't argue w-with th-that."

Chigger breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you."

"Tomorrow morning, early," Splash told him. "Be ready."

* * *

Later on, Cthulhu watched silently as Boomer and Splash put their heads together to make plans.

_Kinda dumb to make plans when you have no idea what your getting yourselves into, ain't it?_ he thought. _Should I do something about this? I mean, it's not like anyone would listen if I opened my mouth. Huh, no one has before. Why should I bother?_

Reasoning with Flippy was not an option. Who else could he try talking to? Flaky? She'd run screaming. Cuddles? Yeah right, the one he'd killed the most? No. Vance? Now there was something. Even though the weasel probably wouldn't want to listen to Lucky's killer, the cat had confided in him once, apparently.

_Guess I'll never know if I don't try. I owe everyone that much._

Leaving Flippy's house, the demon made his way to the weasel's location. It was evening by then, and Vance was alone in his room.

The normally stoic weasel was crying silently. His blue sunglasses lay forgotten on the floor as he sat on the edge of his bed and stared off into oblivion. Cthulhu went to the mirror behind him so the weasel would be able to see and hear him. Vance wouldn't be thankful at being caught at such a sensitive moment, but now was not the time to back out. Steeling himself, Cthulhu opened his mouth. "Vance."

With a gasp, Vance sat bolt upright and spun around, and his red-rimmed eyes narrowed with hate. "You! What are you doing here?"

Cthulhu shrank back slightly, forcing himself to meet Vance's eyes. Maybe this hadn't been such a good idea. "I, uh..."

"If you weren't in a mirror, I'd strangle you!"

"If I wasn't in a mirror, you wouldn't be able to see, hear, smell, or feel me," Cthulhu returned.

"I don't know why Lucky still thought you were good, evenyou killed her," Vance said angrily. "Why are you even here?"

This was going straight down the toilet, that much was clear. "Well, I was going to tell you something, but I think I'll forget it," Cthulhu sighed exasperatedly. "It's obvious that almost nobody's going to listen to a word I say. And before you say anything, yes, I realize it's my own fault."

"_Damn_ straight."

Cthulhu looked down at his feet, searching his brain madly for any idea. He was getting nowhere by simply antagonizing the weasel. Then he remembered what Reaper had told him. _Fine. God, I hate doing this._ This was probably the only thing he could do at this point. And like any normal person, sucking up was definitely not his favorite pastime. "I-- I--"

"If your going to say something, then spit it out already," Vance snapped.

"Should I even bother?" Cthulhu banged his forehead against the glass. The weasel was not making this any easier.

"Depends," Vance replied warily.

Cthulhu bit his lip. This was the very least, the bare minimum of what he could do. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything. Really, I am."

When the weasel didn't answer, he sighed again, this time out of resignation. He was about to leave when he paused suddenly. "Hey Vance, what's your worst fear as a parent?"

Vance blinked, clearly taken aback by the odd question. "Why do you want to know?"

"Curiosity."

"You said you don't hurt kids," Vance said, narrowing his eyes. "You'd better hope for your own sake that you weren't lying. My worst fear is every parents worst fear: seeing my kids get hurt." It sounded like a challenge.

The demon was silent for a moment. Then he smilled ruefully. "Every parent, you say?" He rolled one sleeve back a few inches. "I wish that were true. Then I might not have turned out so bad." Leaving the confused weasel behind, Cthulhu stationed himself by Boomer's room to wait. If no one would listen to him, then he'd follow the kids himself.

Early the next morning a small party made for the former asylum Lucky had described. Of them, only Reaper could see the gray demon bear following.

* * *

This is the place, right?" Boomer murmured under his breath.

"Gotta be," Splash replied. "It's just like your mom described it. And there are gaurds, too.A"

The six of them were crouched in the bushes by the old building. As Splash had pointed out, the door was guarded.

Needles had retreated into her own mind and given Reaper control, in case fighting was necessary. Which, in this case, it was.

"Morbidity wins!" Reaper called over a few minutes later as she dragged the now dead sentries into the bushes. The young demon dusted her paws off as Splash attacked the locked door with a quill for a lockpick.

"Cake!" Chig said triumphantly. "That was easy, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, it was," Jake said grimly. "But it's not just them that we have to worry about."

Chigger gulped, and Reaper couldn't help but roll her eyes. "Please. I'm the scariest thing you'll ever see today."

"If that's your mindset, then you won't survive this," a voice snorted. Reaper flashed a quick glance at the culprit, who she knew was invisible to everyone but her.

"I'll give the building a quick once-over, make sure the outside's clear." Without waiting for an answer, she darted around the corner.

"You've been following us," she said when Cthulhu appeared beside her. "Why?"

"Well, somebody's got to make sure you kids don't get torn apart," Cthulhu responded.

"Compensating, are you?" Reaper said with a fanged grin. Thought so."

"Don't get cocky, Reaper," Cthulhu warned. "You have no idea what you're dealing with."

"And I suppose you do?"

"There's a demon in there, named Typhon," Cthulhu said. "I knew him when he was alive, in fact I killed him myself. Even then he called himself Typhon. Fights dirty. Bastard almost took me with him."

"He the one who busted your foot?"

Surprised, Cthulhu glanced at the twisted limb, and for a moment his eyes clouded over with some memory. "Er, no, that was... someone else."

"Your dad?" she guessed cautious.

"No. Wait, what-- how--?"

"I looked. Sorry. I made use of that connection you established yourself. But unlike you, I don't tramp around like a drunk elephant and make myself noticed." She glanced at her feet. "I'm not against you. That's why I didn't tell anyone you were following."

"Great. I was actually trying to avoid being seen."

Reaper laughed. "You know what I said about a drunk elephant?"

"That's very nice of you."

"Reaper, we're waiting for you!" Jake called over. "Hurry up!"

"Coming!" The black demon trotted over.

"We're splitting up into two groups," Boomer told her as they crept cautiously into the building together. "We'll cover more ground that way. You, Itch, and Chigger are in one group, and Jake, Splash, and I will be the other."

"So what's the plan?" Reaper asked.

"We go in, find Spiker and Ari, and get them out," Boomer replied simply. "Simple and straightforward."

"You have _got_ to be kidding me," Cthulhu said, rolling his eyes. Of course, no one but Reaper heard him. She voiced his opinions for him by quoting him loudly.

"Thank you," Cthulhu said.

"It'll be fine, Reaper," Splash reassured her. "Our parents did the same thing years ago, when Mom went through the same thing Spiker and Ari are."

"Last time, a rat named Nibbler, who was helping them, got killed," Jake warned. "We can't get too cocky."

"Shh!" Chig hissed warningly, pressing his ear against a door. "Someone's coming."

Slipping behind the opening door, the six of them plus Cthulhu watched as two Tree Friends walked out.

"Where're the other two?" one, a badger, wondered aloud.

The other was clearly a demon, possessing a muskrat that Reaper recognized as Scabies. Chig tensed beside her.

"How should I know?" Scabies, or rather Typhon, snarled. "I hate guard duty. It's so boring."

Reaper climbed over the door, stationing herself silently over the badger's head.

"Huh, guard duty? Guard against what?" the badger snapped, just as Reaper dropped down on him.

"Me," she hissed as she ended his life with one swing of her tail.

Typhon spun around to face Reaper with a growl, only to get tackled from behind by Jake and Splash. Because the demon had made the mistake of possessing a child, his size put him at a disadvantage. But he was still a demon. With snakelike speed, he wriggled away and from his attackers.

Chig faced him boldly. "Leave my brother alone! Let him go!"

"The irony is delicious, isn't it?" Typhon sniggered nastily. "He didn't believe in demons, so what happens? A demon possesses him!"

Cthulhu stole up behind him until he was close enough to hiss in his ear, "Hello, Typhon."

The possessed muskrat froze, and that was all Cthulhu needed. Swiftly he disappeared before Reaper's eyes, and Typhon stood stock-still, blinking furiously, until he suddenly slumped down on his knees.

"Wh-what happened?" It was not Typhon's voice but Scab's, that was coming from the muskrat's mouth. Only Reaper could see Cthulhu reappear beside him, looking exhausted as he dragged along a mean-looking guinea pig.

"I jumped in and dragged the idiot out of him," Cthulhu explained, panting slightly. "Took a damn lot out of me. This is Typhon."

"Screw you," the demon-guinea-pig spat.

"Scab, what happened?" Chig asked his brother. "Is he gone?"

"Yeah, he's gone," Scab replied. "But I don't get it. It was like another demon was in there, and just yanked him out. He's just... gone."

"Think again," Typhon's voice snarled. The previously dead badger stood up, his eyes flashing dark brown.

"Sorry, couldn't hold him," Cthulhu apologized.

"I'll let Kraken deal with you," Typhon snarled as he turned and ran down a dark hallway.

Suddenly it hit Jake. "Crap! They were waiting for us! Why didn't we notice that no one was around? It's a trap!"

"Split up!" Chig yelled. "We've gotta get out of here, now!"

"Not so fast, kiddies," Cerberus's familiar voice stopped them. The hamster was approaching at the head of a group of nine animals. Two of them, both black squirrels, stood right behind him.

One of them let out a crazed high-pitched giggle. "Heeheehee! Hey Jormungand, Can I kill them?"

"No, Fenris, not til later," the other squirrel sighed.

"Aw, _Jormy..._ I don't wanna wait for the killing spree in Happy Tree Town!" Fenris whined.

"Shut up, idiot! They aren't supposed to know that! And don't call me Jormy!"

Reaper spoke rapidly out of the corner of her mouth. "Hey dillhole, can you do that exorcising thing again?"

"No I can't. Do you have any idea how much that hurts?"

"Why's it hurt?"

"It's exorcism! Of course it's gonna hurt!"

"Split into groups!" Reaper yelled. "Get out before they surround us!"

Splitting off, they sped down separate halls. Their pursuers did the same, chasing them deeper into the building.

* * *

Cthulhu knew Reaper could fend for herself and the ones she was with. An icy claw of fear gripped him when those he had followed reached a dead end.

Without hesitation Jake launged himself into the five who had gone after them, his spotted brown fur bristling. "Help me! Try and fight them!"

Cthulhu glanced at Boomer. The cat-weasel had backed into a corner, teeth bared, while two of their attackers advanced on him. In a movement reminiscent of his mother, he launched himself at them with his claws out.

But their brave front did not last. Jake was quickly being overpowered, and Boomer was going down under his opponents. Splash stood still, frozen with fear as he watched his friends failing.

"Do something!" Cthulhu muttered tensely. "Don't just stand there with your mouth flapping open-- hell, maybe I should follow my own advice." Entering Splash's mind, he screamed at the stricken bearcupine's entire consciousness.

_Dammit, Splash, do something! If you aren't going to, then let me!_

_C-Cthulhu! Get out of my head!_

_You all are going to get killed! Don't fight me, please!_

_But I--_

_You leave me no choice!_

Splash's eyes blinked blue.

* * *

The other group was far luckier. For the first time in her existence, Reaper's main focus was running away. She'd been fortunate enough to take the right turn and ended up at a window. She smashed it with her tail and sent the others through.

"You heard what that squirrel said!" She yelled. "Warn our parents! Spiker and Ari are still trapped here!" Turning, she hurled herself into the small croud. She was outnumbered five to one.

Good odds for any demon.

* * *

Boomer was surprised when the beaver attacking him seemed to suddenly grow a red quill out of his stomach. Splash had gotten over his terror, apparently, and wwas owning on all the four who had gone after them. The first two, the beaver and a mouse, were dead in seconds, being non-demons. The two squirrels proved to be much more of a problem.

Two quills shot from Splash's tail, thudding into both squirrels' chests. But this hardly fazed them.

"Think you're tough, kid?" Fenris snarled. "We're demons! You can't kill us!"

Boomer struggled up; Jake remained unconscious. With a sweep of his tail, Splash sent Fenris sprawling. The demon looked him in the eye and quailed visibly. "Jormungand!"

The other squirrel looked to see what was causing Fenris's fear and blanched. "C'mon, Fen, let's get out of here!"

As the two demons fled the scene, Boomer checked on his brother. Jake was alive, but knocked out. "Splash, how'd you scare 'em off like that?'

The bearcupine looked up. "Splash ain't here." Cthulhu's blue eyes had replaced Splash's normal black ones.

Boomer backed away with a cry of alarm. "Cthulhu!"

"I'm not gonna hurt you."

"You-- you--" the cat-weasel struggled to speak. "You killed my mom!"

Cthulhu winced. "I know... I'm sorry."

"Sorry won't bring her back!" Boomer snapped. "What do you want now, anyway?" Boomer flattened his ears and hissed in pain when he noticed a wound in his side. The demon approached cautiously, and Boomer braced himself to fight.

Cthulhu knelt by him. "Look kid, if I wanted to kill you, you'd be dead now. But I don't want to. I've been following you since you started this."

"Ugh!" Boomer spat. "I can't afford this! My sister and best friend are still in here!"

"I apologize in advance for what I'm about to do," Cthulhu said calmly. Boomer looked at him questioningly before receiving a slap across the face.

In all fairness, it wasn't a very hard hit. But it was hard enough to shock him into attention.

"Your father told you not to pull something like this!" Cthulhu berated him angrily. "If I hadn't been here, you would have been killed! Do you have any idea what happened to the rest of you! The least you could have done was ask for help!"

Boomer scowled. "At least we were doing something. All are parents would do was forbid us from going!"

"Ingrateful little brat!" Cthulhu snapped. "You should be thankful your parents care about you!" He averted your eyes. "Don't take things like that for granted. Think of how scared they must be."

Boomer looked down guiltily. "Well... Thanks, anyway. But why are you helping us like this?"

The demon looked surprised for a moment before grinning sadly. "Why, huh." he drew one paw along the scar over his eye. "You're your mother's son, that's for sure. Always wanting to know 'why'. Well, after everything she did for me, the least I could do was make sure you don't get hurt. And now the least you can do is do the same for yourself."

"But..." Boomer was both saddened and confused. "If my mom helped you, and you want to repay that, then why did you kill her?"

Cthulhu was silent for a moment. "I..." He sighed. "...Because then I couldn't even recognize kindness when I saw it."

Boomer was taken aback. Who was this guy? What had he gone through that made him alien to kindness? "There's... a lot of things you don't take for granted," he said hesitantly. "Isn't there?"

Blinking in surprise, Cthulhu stared at him oddly. "I wish I'd met someone like you or your mother much earlier." With that, he released Splash.

The bearcupine gasped. "B-Boomer, what happened?" he asked. "I was really scared, and I couldn't do anything. We were losing and then... something happened, but I can't remember."

Jake woke up suddenly and looked around. "What happened? Did someone save us?"

Boomer smiled tightly and nodded. "Yeah, Jake. Someone did."

* * *

Cthulhu followed the three of them until they found the window that Reaper had smashed.

_Get out of here now, _Cthulhu said, entering Boomer's mind._ I'll stay behind and see what I can do._

_Thank you._

Cthulhu left them and watched as they climbed out of the window. He tensed suddenly when a paw tapped his shoulder. He spun around, only to see a black, winged ermine standing there.

Shadow smiled. "Hello, Jonathan."

The demon stared. "Er... what are you doing here, exactly?"

"You've done well," Shadow replied. "We've deemed your transformation nothing less than miraculous. So, we've come to a decision. We're going to give back your body."

Cthulhu did a mental double take. "You mean... my body? I'll live again, like Ruby? You can just do that?"

"It's much easier to do to a demon," the Spirit Guide explained. "An angel can only be resurrected at the right time, and only one can be resurrected at a time." His face turned grim. "We need your help, Jonathan. We've needed it for a while. And the same thing we do now to you we have to do to the other demons."

"What? Let Kraken live again? Why?"

"Let me explain, Jonathan. Every soul has one true body, and they are connected even after death.. Reincarnation is when that body is reborn. A dead soul leaves its body behind, and can choose not to have an afterlife. I can't make Kraken go to Hell. But normal souls, alive or dead, can. And if his body goes to hell with him..."

"He'll be gone forever." Cthulhu nodded resolutely. "I can do it."

The Spirit Guide gripped his shoulder. "I know you can. Now live, Jonathan. Make things right." A smile twitched at his mouth. "Watch out, though. Resurrection has temporary side effects sometimes."

"Like what?"

"Brief, uncontrollable wild happiness," Shadow replied. "Try not to attract attention."

Excruciating pain lanced though Cthulhu, so unexpected and agonizing that he could only grunt. Then, as suddenly as it had come, it was gone. And wo was Shadow.

Cthulhu looked around, almost overcome. He could feel things, drafts from the window, the hard floor, and even the pain in his bad foot. But it was different from possession, simply because he was feeling it as himself. Exuberance filled him; it was great to be alive!

At the last second he supressed a wild yell of excitement. But despite the dangerous situation, he allowed himself a small dance of joy.

Something hard in his pocket thumped against his stomach. Curious, he reached in an pulled out his familiar dagger. But the blade was no longer shiny black, and it had the same air about it as Ruby's weapon.

The reassuring presence of Shadow returned suddenly, and Cthulhu could hear him speak. "Ruby was given one of those, too. You'll need it. Help is on the way as we speak. Good luck, Jonathan."

"Tell Lucky thanks, and that I'm sorry," Cthulhu said under his breath.

"Jonathan, before all this is over, you will be able to tell her yourself." Then he was gone.

"That you, dillhole?"

The demon turned to see Reaper approaching him with a crowbar gripped in both paws. "Yeah, it's me. And on top of that, I'm alive. What do you think of that?"

"Sweet," Reaper replied with a wolfish smile. "After I finished off the five that chased us, I--"

"Five?" Cthulhu echoed. "Only four chased _us_. Didn't Cerberus follow you?"

"No, I though he was with you!" Reaper replied.

"That creep," Cthulhu snarled. "Wen't running back to Kraken!"

"And we still have to find Spiker and Ari," Reaper pointed out."

"We need help," Cthulhu said tensely.

"H-hey, Cthulhu," a familiar voice greeted him. "You're looking for help? Well here's some help for you. What'd I miss?"

Cthulhu spun around unable to believe his eyes.

There was no mistaking the smooth blue stone around her neck, the daredevil glint in her eye, and the ready way she hefted the wrench in her paw. But she looked different, a bit undernourished and scrawny-looking.

"Y-you don't look so good," was all Cthulhu could say.

"I turned down the pomegranate seeds," Lucky replied with a slight purr in her voice. "I brought somebody else too, but I can't seem to find him at the moment. Your mom says hi."

* * *

**PSYYYYYYYCH! YOU THOUGHT I'D KILLED HER OFF, DIDN'T YOU? DIDN'T YOU! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!and she is not a mary sue, either. I took the test! And if you can guess what the 'pomegranate seed' thing was an allusion to, you get an adorable HAPPY CTHULHU PLUSHIE!**

**At your disposal (sort of),**

**Adderstar of ValorClan**


	16. Chapter 16

The two black squirrels looked out the window that had provided an escape route for the kids who had failed to break their two friends out. With a snigger, Fenris spotted Splash jump into a ditch just ahead of them, outside the building. "There's that bearcupine! And this time he ain't possessed! KILL 'IM NOW YAY!"

Jormungand sighed as he followed his berserk brother out the window. "Er... Fenris, don't you think--" Too late. The black squirrel leaped into the ditch without any sign of hearing Jormungand. The latter sighed. "I can't believe I'm the younger brother."

A sudden howl of pain erupted from the ditch, as did an agonized black demon squirrel. "EEYOOOWWWWLL!"

Smirking, Jormungand sat back five feet away from the ditch to watch, laughing uproariously..

"Ooh! Ow!" Fenris crawled out of the ditch with red quills making his rear end look like some sort of red oozing sea urchin, to where his brother was rolling on the ground, howling with laughter. Suddenly, Jormungand sat up, seeing Splash scrambling out of the opposite end of the ditch and dashing back into the woods. "Hey, there he goes, there he goes!"

Fenris scowled, speaking around the quill that he was trying to yank out with his teeth. "So go get 'im!"

"Man, no way am I going in there!" Jormungand sniggered again. "What, you want me to come out looking like _you_, Cactus-Butt?!"

Fenris succeeded in yanking the quill out and promptly spat it skillfully at his brother, where it stuck into the tip of Jormungand's nose.

* * *

"Lucky!" Reaper's black fur turned red and green, and the tail disappeared. Needles threw herself joyfully at the cat, hugging her around the middle.

"Hiya, Needles, I missed ya!" Lucky laughed, tousling the softer quills on the little bearcupine's head.

Cthulhu could hardly put his words together. "What-- how--?"

"You are the luckiest retard in existence," Lucky said with a playful swat. "You got my eighth! My eighth! Missed my last one by a hair!"

"Your eighth what?"

"Life, idiot! What did you think! I'm a cat, for Pete's sake!"

"Cats really have nine lives?" Cthulhu asked.

"Yes, some, but not all; it's very rare, and it only happens with black cats like me," Lucky explained.

"...Oh," was all Cthulhu could think of saying. "Wait a sec, where's the Idol? What about--"

"The curse?" Lucky finished. She spread her paws wide. "Well, I guess I have to thank you. I'm on my last one now. I was going to live longer than most, since the normal temporary deaths didn't count, and if I truly died, I'd come back again with one less life. And on top of that, I'd kill everyone around me over and over again. Now that I'm just as vulnerable as anyone else, the curse is gone too. Isn't it weird? In exchange for eight extra lives, I had to live with bringing bad luck to everyone around me. Every advantage has its sacrifice." Suddenly she blinked. "Sorry, did I go all philosophical again? I do that every time I wake up from losing a life." She glanced down at her small spiked hanger-on. "Sorry Needles, but could you please let go? After that speech just now, I need to breathe a couple of times."

Needles obliged, and Reaper took over again. Lucky looked around suddenly. "Hold the phone, where is... Dang it, I came with--"

"Oompf!" Cthulhu was bowled over by what seemed in his eyes to be a blur of green. The demon found himself staring up at Flippy's vengeful black eyes.

* * *

"Boomer told me you'd be here!" Flippy gritted, holding a Bowie knife to his throat. "He didn't say I'd actually be able to punch you."

"Did he mention what I was actually doing here?" Cthulhu asked, rather calmly for someone who had a knife at his throat.

"I came as soon as I heard you were here," Flippy snapped.

"Figures." Cthulhu rolled his eyes. "Always jumping the gun. Flippy, sometimes you really are worse than me."

Lucky coughed politely. "Ahem, Flippy, be a dear and let the nice demon up, would you?"

Flippy actually did a double take. "L-L-Lucky?!" he gasped, stumbling back away from Cthulhu. "You're alive!"

"Aw c'mon, you think I was going to leave after all that?" Lucky teased, purring with amusement. "You underestimate me." Her eyes hardened. "And leave Cthulhu alone. You really are pissing me off."

"But--he killed you!" Flippy protested indignantly. "And you still say he's good? Any idiot could see that he isn't!"

"Maybe an idiot could see that, but it takes an intelligent person to see that he is," Lucky retorted. "Shadow can give dead demon souls their bodies back. Looks to me like he just did."

"Well... that doesn't necessarily mean anything," Cthulhu admitted. "He's doing the same for the rest of the demons. If he does, that means we can be rid of Kraken for good."

"What makes you different from them?" Flippy demanded.

"If you're about to say 'once a demon, always a demon', then I'll stop you right there," Cthulhu said contemptuously. "You can't have that kind of mindset without insulting Ruby and Reaper, too. What makes _them_ any different from the rest of them? Tell me that!"

"They actually had morals!"

"And who was it who saved Splash's life that time?" Reaper stepped in. "He went and stopped Splash from getting shot in the head, and you don't even thank him! Ingrate." She bared her teeth.

"Ruby's different," said Flippy. "She's suffered a lot, at his paws, too!"

Cthulhu flinched as if Flippy had taken a swing at him. "I told her I'm sorry. I've told a number of people I'm sorry, all right?"

"No, it's not all right!" Flippy growled. "'Sorry' doesn't fix it! It doesn't erase anything!"

The demon averted his eyes to the floor. "Don't you think I realize that by now?"

"Flippy." Lucky's voice formed the beginnings of a snarl.

"When all this is over," Flippy carried on, regardless. "I swear to you I'll send you back to Hell where I think every parent-murdering bastard like you belongs."

_Slam._

Cthulhu had swun outward with one paw clenched around his knife handle, slamming it blade-deep into the wall. His eyes and voice carried no emotion at all.

"Parent-murdering?" he said quietly. "Is that what you truly think of me? You've... you've come to that conclusion, and you won't hear any more?"

Flippy's expression answered for him.

"I see." Yanking the knife out of the wall, the demon stalked past Flippy and left.

"You--" The snarled word came from Lucky's mouth. Flippy turned to find out what the matter was, just in time to see Lucky swinging her wrench at him.

_Tonggg!_

"YOU IDIOT!"

Colored lights exploded in Flippy's vision as he sat down hard, blinking hard several times. When the stars receded, he stared fearfully up at his friend. "L-Lucky!"

Lucky stood over him, breathing hard with rage. Tears welled up in her eyes as she narrowed them into slits, and her ears were laid back firmly. She swung the wrench again.

"Flippy, you're such an idiot!"

_Tonggg!_

"L-Lucky, what are you--"

"You don't have any idea how Cthulhu feels, do you??" Lucky screeched furiously.

_Tong!_

"The only reason why he killed his father..." Lucky snarled. "Is because his father hurt him, EVERY DAY!" The cat continued hitting out halfheartedly as tears dripped down her face. "From what Ivan tells me... he used to cry himself to sleep from the pain and horror of it all... 'til he couldn't cry anymore." She glared at him angrily. "And then you went and said what you did... Shouldn't you, as a parent, understand?" Finally she dropped the wrench and wiped her eyes. "For so long... all he had then was himself."

Flippy sat trembling with dismay, horror, and pain. "I-I-I'm sorry, I didn't know!"

"You-- you didn't know," Lucky repeated, continuing to hyperventilate. "Well, neither did I. I didn't know either. I had no clue, what the hell his childhood was like. So what's your fucking point?"

Flippy wished shame was something he could die from. Permanently. He averted his eyes in revulsion at what he had just said to the demon.

Lucky let her fur lie flat again. "A life is not an easy thing to give, Flippy," she said. "Even if you have nine. I taught him something by letting him kill me. You could say I sacrificed my eighth life for him, as a friend. Flippy, I understand why you find it so hard to forgive him. But how do you think I felt when you continued to treat him like that, after I gave my seventh to your brother, for you as a friend?"

Flippy could feel his blood turn to ice water. "Your seventh... to Teddy? You mean..."

"Under normal circumstances, it could take years for a non-demon soul to get life back," Lucky said in a low voice. "But with outside help... like from me..."

"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry." Tears welled up and spilled over in Flippy's eyes.

Lucky's paw shot out, pointing down the hall with a fully unsheathed claw. The hard light had returned to her eyes. "Go after him!"

"What?"

"Sorry doesn't mean crap to me!" Lucky snapped. "Tell him you're sorry, let him tell you he's sorry, and hear what he has to say. I haven't told you the half of it. Go after him!"

"O-okay." Flippy got up and started down in the direction she was pointing.

"What are you waiting for? RUN!"

"Yes ma'am!" Flippy called back fearfully, dashing full pelt down the hallway.

Once he was out of her hearing range, Flippy paused. His teeth clenched. "God damn it..." He punched the wall savagely, snarling as loud as he dared, "God damn it! I am so FUCKING STUPID!"

"I said the same thing myself." The dry remark came from Cthulhu. Flippy turned a corner to find the demon standing with his arms loose at his sides, staring down at the dead body of a female monkey at his feet. There was a dagger driven into her throat, and a small gash in Cthulhu's side.

Flippy bit his lip. "Was that one a demon?"

"Mm-hm."

"Cthulhu--" Flippy began.

"I had a brother, you know," Cthulhu interrupted. "Just like you. He wasn't younger, though. We were twins. My mom... she pretty much had to raise us by herself. When I was a little kid, they were all I really needed. As long as I knew they were still right there, I could survive." The demon was silent for a moment.

"You know, Flippy," he continued. "I have never had love from a father before. I've never been on a happy little family outing. I've never gone to school, made friends, or been praised by anyone other than those two I mentioned. There is much I don't know."

Flippy blinked. "I--"

"But there is much I do know," Cthulhu interrupted. "I know how to ride through the worst kind of agony imagineable and make it look like I can't even feel anything. I know how to look someone in the eye and read their emotions. Most of all I know how to fight. I can turn anything into a weapon, even my bare paws. And I know demons. I know how to be one, how to think like one, and who some of them are." He turned to Flippy and finally met his eyes. "I can help you, Flippy. More importantly, I want to help you. But I can't if you won't let me. I realize it won't take back what I've done, but... I just want to make things right."

"Cthulhu..." Flippy began. "Do you know the main reason why I hated you so much? Because you purposely got my brother killed. No, hear me out. When I was a kid, I was constantly having to shield him from bullies. They were merciless, I can tell you that much. People tormented him all the time because he was small, and I always had to be there to stick up for him. And yet we got through it, me and him, and when you got him killed, you made all of that, everything we'd been through together, for nothing. But... there were times when I couldn't always be there for him. And after times like that, sometimes you could hardly tell we were brothers. He'd lash out at me, act like it was all my fault... and then recently, there was Itch. You saw it, Cthulhu. It was like he'd never stop hating me, hating everything. And they were only like that because they were bullied." Flippy paused, his eyes stinging. "I just... I'm so sorry, Cthulhu. I'm sorry I could never recognize that you were the same."

"Yeah... I'm sorry too," the demon replied with a sigh.

Curiosity got the better of Flippy. "Cthulhu, was your dad the reason why your mom... you know?"

"Yeah, he was," Cthulhu affirmed. "But that wasn't all. My brother ran away from home when we were ten. But right before he left, he begged me to come with him. But I didn't. I couldn't. Not while my mom was still there. So... I stayed." Tears of anger brimmed in his eyes. "I gave up a chance at freedom so she wouldn't be alone, and what does she do?" He wiped his eyes furiously, but to no success. "Damn it." Finally the demon gave up rubbing at his streaming eyes. "I haven't cried since I was twelve, and now I can't goddamn stop!"

Flippy's heart twisted with pity. _How could I not forgive him? Lucky gave a life to give him a chance. To help us all give him a chance. I've been a terrible friend to not honor that. I can't believe I was too blind to recognize remorse when I see it._

With a small, sympathetic smile, Flippy reached out and placed his paw firmly on Cthulhu's shoulder. Startled, the demon turned his head to look at him.

"It's all right," Flippy told him. "You don't have to."

* * *

Lucky and Reaper were watching from afar. "Job well done, eh?" the cat said proudly, waving her wrench.

"Don't celebrate too soon," Reaper warned. "We still have to get him reconciled with the others."

"I look forward to it," Lucky said, grinning wickedly.

Reaper edged away. "You scare me."

"Thank you," Lucky said with a deep bow. "That means a lot coming from Little Miss Bad Reputation."

The young demon smiled sweetly. "That's my favorite song."

"Thought so," Lucky replied. "But like I said, anyone who gets all stubborn concerning Cthulhu will get the same treatment as DEMON-CHIPMUNK AT THREE O'CLOCK!"

Reaper saw it just in time to swing her crowbar like a professional baseball player. The possessed animal flew several feet through the air before the wall stopped its spectacular trajectory.

Lucky's shout alerted Cthulhu and Flippy as well. "About time they got their act together," Cthulhu muttered as he spotted more demons coming through the halls. Their opponents numbered about twelve.

Flippy grinned. "Ready for this?"

"Do you have to ask?"

Lucky and Reaper joined the two of them, and they stood together as the badger and the hamster leading the enemies stepped forward.

"Shadow hasn't given the other demons their bodies back yet," Cthulhu murmured.

"So you're alive now, Cthulhu?" Typhon, the possessed badger, taunted. "Kraken will be overjoyed to see you. We're planning something big, and it starts with the destruction of Happy Tree Town."

"Big, huh?" Cthulhu pretended to stifle a yawn. "If it's anything as big as your ego, Typhon, then I guess we'd better start worrying."

"Watch it, smart mouth," Cerberus snarled. "Way I see it, you're outnumbered."

"Not to get all cliche on you, but it's quality that counts," Lucky said with a broad wink. "Way I see it, we trump you any day."

"Aren't you supposed to be dead?" a rabbit taunted her.

"No," Lucky said cheerfully. "But you are. You're Echidna, right? And the badger's Typhon?"

Echidna narrowed her eyes. "What of it?"

Lucky snorted on a laugh. "Tell me something, did you actually look up the monsters you were naming yourselves after?"

Cthulhu apparently had, for he immediately caught on to what she was saying and said, in a voice that was clearly holding back a veritable army of laughs, "So does that mean that Cerberus...?"

His composure was immediately ruined when Lucky lost control. "AHAHAHAHAHA! WHOA, DUDE! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" She was quite literally screaming with laughter, which immediately set off Cthulhu, and Fenris and Jormungand (for the latter two had also read Greek Mythology before). Flippy and Reaper had as well, and were outwardly calm but howling on the inside. Echidna and a rottweiler demon named Orthus realized what they were laughing about and scowled, while Cerberus and Typhon, as well as the demons who had chosen the names Hydra and Sphinx, were looking at each other in confusion, wondering what was so funny. Orthus marched over to Sphinx and promptly socked her in the face.

(Quicknote! Just to tell you, Orthus is a normal dog, walking on four legs. So... use your imagination to figure out how he managed to sock her in the face.)

"ENOUGH! IDIOTS!" A demon-beaver roared. "CAN'T YOU SEE WHAT THEY'RE TRYING TO DO?"

"Sorry, Basilisk," Echidna said sarcastically, clearly not liking the beaver's superior-sounding tone.

"Basilisk, huh?" Lucky said with a grin. "Hey, chicken boy, didja know I'm married to a weasel?"

Cthulhu raised an eyebrow. "Wait a minute, we weren't really trying to do anything. We were just having a nice laugh, and you ruined it. I resent that!" With that said, he hurled his dagger and killed the beaver without any ado whatsoever.

"Never thought I'd say this to an enemy, but thank you for that," Echidna muttered. "He really was getting annoying. Whatever. Now you all die. Except--"

"Hey, Echidna, can I kill the blue-eyed guy?" Fenris asked excitedly.

"No, Fenris, Kraken wants to talk to that one, remember?"

"Can I kill the other bear, please?"

"Of course."

"Can I _eat_ him?"

"...If that's what you really want to do."

Sudden cries of alarm from the other demons alerted them to a small flash of red-orange fur. Ruby bounded onto the scene to stand by the small group. "Ooh good, then I haven't missed anything."

"Ruby, I thought you were waiting outside with Vance!" Flippy snapped irritably.

"And miss this? What do you take me for?" Ruby's demon fangs flashed in a wolfish grin. "Glad you could join us, Cthulhu."

"So am I."

Then she saw Lucky. "Um... if you don't mind me asking, what are you doing here?" the fox asked, clearly holding down immense shock.

"Oh come on!" Lucky said exasperatedly. "Really, people, did you think that what with my amazing color-changing eyes, my ability to kill someone simply by walking past them, and the fact that I'm already familiar with the frickin grim reaper, that I was just your average boring little alley feline? Don't insult me, please. I'll explain later." The cat glanced at Flippy. "Did you say Vance was outside?"

"Yeah."

"Okay. Cthulhu, if you happen to run into him before he knows I'm alive, show him this." Lucky tossed him her blue rock necklace. "If possible, make sure he sees that before he sees you."

"Thanks," the demon replied, putting the necklace in his pocket. "Hopefully by the time he sees it, he won't have strangled me to death yet."

"Strangle to death?" Hydra, who was possessing a hedgehog, sniggered. "I was hoping I could do that."

Cthulhu flipped his knife in his paw skillfully. "Then why not come over here and try your luck, fat boy?"

"Gladly!" The slow-witted demon rose to the bait and flew at Cthulhu, who barely blinked but simply stuck out a single clenched paw. Hydra's nose struck it and fountained blood, shortly before Cthulhu's dagger flashed forward. In a spray of blood, the demon was on its way back to Hell. The quick but decisive death set off the rest of their attackers, and all the evil demons leapt forward at once.

A wide, wolfish grin slowly spread across Cthulhu's face. Life was already off to a good start.

* * *

**Sohoho... Lucky's... let's say... "method of changing Flippy's mind about Cthulhu" (aka beating the snot out of him with a wrench while screaming at him) was an homage to a certain popular manga series. Which manga series was it? GUESS! I might have told somebody already but... I can't really remember. There was one more homage in this chapter... to a Disney movie. Five Lucky plushies to whoever guesses what the homage was and what movie it was from!**

**At your disposal (sort of),**

**Adderstar of ValorClan**


	17. Chapter 17

Lucky aimed a kick at Typhon's stomach and was about to attack again when the demon suddenly froze. In fact, all the demons froze (except for Ruby and Cthulhu, of course). Expressions of pure agony crossed their faces before the possessed creatures simply flopped to the ground.

"What's going on?" Flippy murmured.

"That would be called a mass exorcism, I think," Lucky replied, nudging one of them with her foot. "I'm not sure, but I _think_ the ones they possessed are dead."

"How'd that happen?" Reaper asked.

"Shadow did that, I just know it!" Cthulhu gritted his teeth. "And then I know what comes next."

Lucky glanced at all of them in turn. "Get ready to meet the demons."

Then the ten demons flickered back into tangible existence, and of them, three actually remained in almost the same form: two black squirrels and a rottweiler. Cthulhu could recognize Typhon, who was back to being a guinea pig, Sphinx who was now a scrawny lioness, and another demon named Wraith, who was now a skinny striped cat.

Cthulhu stared at the last two, who he had not realized were actually people he'd known. "Jewel and Sid," he murmured. "Can't believe I didn't recognize you before." He raised an eyebrow at a black skunk. "Though I did recognize you, George."

"Shut your piehole!" the skunk snapped. "Don't call me George, my name's Baital."

"What the hell just happened?" a brown rabbit snapped in Cerberus's voice. "Now we don't even know who's who!"

"I'm Fenris," one of the black squirrels replied. "The other one's Jormungand."

"Orthus," the rottweiler said.

"Typhon."

"Sphinx."

"Wraith."

"Baital."

"Scylla," a red squirrel raised her paw.

"Echidna." Everyone turned to stare at her.

"Er..." Jormungand blinked. "What exactly are you? Some kind of weird oversized mink?"

"I'm a sea mink!" Echidna rolled her eyes. "You probably don't know them. They're extinct."

"Whatever. Like I said, what the hell just happened?"

"Shadow just weakened you," Cthulhu said, smiling innocently. "You're all alive. Now you can't possess anybody, and what's more you can bleed and feel your own pain. Ha!"

With the earsplitting battle scream of any cat, Lucky suddenly hurtled herself forward into Typhon's face with her claws out. This successfully restarted the fight. Her tail curled around the wrench and swung it back and forth, hitting anything that came within range. Typhon whipped out a Switchblade, and she wisely dropped back.

Lucky found herself back to back with Cthulhu, who was fending off blows from Cerberus. "You know," the demon commented. "You never actually finished telling me what happened to that black cat's bad luck curse of yours."

"Simple, really," Lucky replied. "Now that I'm on my last life, I'm just as vulnerable as everyone else. Thusly, I don't have any unfair advantages over anyone. The curse is over. I'm a normal cat now."

Cthulhu borrowed her wrench and whacked Cerberus hard in the forehead before returning it. "Lucky," he said with a sharp fanged grin, "Curse or no curse, 'normal' and you do not go together. If you were 'normal', you'd be using that wrench on me, and I'd still be possessing Flippy."

"Heh, yeah, maybe you're right."

"Hey, Cthulhu, remember how I can do this?" Ruby sent a red flame flying through the air until it hit Echidna in the face.

The blackened mink glowered at her. "What was that?!"

"I dug just a little deeper during my time in Hell," Ruby replied with a grin. "Beat that!"

Echidna squinted. "Hmm..." When Ruby threw more fire at her, an unexpected gust of wind blew it back in her face.

The blackened fox glowered at her. "What was that?!"

"Hey Vixie, pull my finger!" Echidna taunted. "Whatcha think I was in Hell for? I practiced witchcraft!"

"Bitch!"

"Chick fight," Cthulhu muttered, careful not to let either of them hear him as he struggled with both Cerberus and Typhon at the same time. Raising his voice, he called over to Flippy, "We can't beat 'em like this!"

Flippy ducked as Fenris the squirrel shot wildly over his head. "We'll have to hold them off til we can make a run for it!" He turned to meet Jormungand's attack. The black squirrel cannoned into him, knocking him against the wall. Fenris advanced with a snarl.

A small dark shape blurred by, stopping between Flippy and his two opponents. An all-too-familiar feeling of mysticism struck Flippy then. With her bushy tail curled against her back, Hel faced Fenris and shrilled at him. "Stop this! Can't you remember?"

"Get out of my way, you little rat!" Fenris barked, crouching for a pounce.

"Wait!" Flippy stepped forward to stand by the small squirrel. "You can't hurt her!"

Fenris narrowed his eyes. "And why not?"

"She's your sister!"

If Flippy had just announced that the moon was made of green cheese, the two squirrel brothers could not have looked more incredulous. "Wh-what?" Fenris stammered.

Hel blinked at him. "Have you forgotten me, Brian?"

"I--I--"

"You have," Hel cut him off sadly. "You have forgotten, haven't you? Forgetten me, and forgotten you."

For the first time, the bloodthirsty gleam in Fenris's eyes dimmed. But the squirrel shook his head. "Sorry, Trish," he said, shrugging regretfully. "But we're demons now."

"No one crosses Kraken," Jormungand added.

"Maybe it's time to try, Russell," Hel said challengingly.

Fenris lunged at Flippy, catching him by surprise. The bear just escaped dying by leaping to one side, but the squirrel's knife entered his side and drew blood.

With a cry of pain, he staggered back. Blood spattered the floor as he leaned with one paw against the wall for support.

Typhon left Cerberus to deal with Cthulhu and turned on Flippy viciously. Cthulhu tried to intercept him, but Cerberus successfully kept him busy.

The mystic air that had always surrounded Hel in a thick fog immediately vanished then. The light of battle entered her dark eyes, and she leaped at the demon guinea pig. Her sharp white teeth sank into his arm, and she hung on grimly until he flung her off viciously.

Flippy was forced to dodge and retreat, and neither was easy with the pain in his side.

Then Lucky made her move. Dropping her wrench, she dug her claws into Baital's fur and dragged them down the side of his head. The wounded skunk fell back with a yell of pain. The feisty black cat flung herself at Typhon, hissing and spitting viciously.

Cerberus had managed to knock Cthulhu down and wrest his knife away (but only with Wraith and Sphinx holding him down). Lashing out at anything that came within his reach, Cthulhu bit, tore, gouged, and pummeled madly, to the point of actually knocking Wraith out. Both feet shot out like pistons, and Sphinx staggered back, nursing her stomach. Cerberus flashed forward just as Cthulhu was getting up, only to meet Ruby's clenched paw head-on. Dazed, the rabbit dropped Cthulhu's dagger. The bear retrieved it before grinning at Ruby. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it," the fox replied. "And by the way, I heard that 'chick fight' comment of yours."

"Hey, can we plan a June wedding later?" Reaper called over from where she was helping Flippy. "It's a bit of a bad time for that."

Cthulhu drove his knife into Wraith's throat, killing him. "If you say so." The demon launched himself at Typhon, who was currently being kept busy by Lucky. With the black cat holding him down to the best of her ability, Cthulhu pressed his knife edge to the guinea pig's throat.

"Call them off!" Cthulhu snarled. "Now!"

Glaring murderously at his captors, Typhon yelled out at the rest of the demons. "Report back to Kraken, tell 'im what's going on with this 'getting life back' thing." The demons obeyed with much alacrity, inwardly unwilling to have to fight the small but fierce group anymore.

Cthulhu grabbed Typhon by the scruff of his neck and flung him in the direction the other demons had taken. "I'll see you later on the battlefield, Typhon," he snarled. "I look forward to it."

"Are you sure that was wise?" Reaper asked uneasily.

"Doesn't make any difference, now that we've announced ourselves so magnificently," Lucky replied. "We'll split up from here. Flippy, you all right?"

"It's not too bad," the bear replied, tying a bandage in place. "We should split up from here, see what we can find out in terms of numbers."

"And where the kids are," Lucky added. "Cthulhu, be on the lookout for... you'll see."

"What?"

"You'll see," Lucky replied simply. She smiled. "I'm not the type to spoil surprises."

"If it's going to be an unpleasant surprise, then please for God's sake spoil it now," Cthulhu said drily.

"It'll be so pleasant you'll be sobbing with joy," Lucky answered. "I'll take this way." With a flick of her bushy tail, the cat dashed off around the corner.

Reaper giggled. "Oh goody goody, Little Miss Bad Reputation's on the prowl. Heeheehee, keep a lookout for this likkle one, she'll take your eyes if you don't watch her, oh yes she will! Heeheehee!" With an abnormally scary little titter, the small demon practically skipped away.

Cthulhu gave an involuntary shudder. "You know, sometimes she even scares me."

"Huh." Ruby shrugged. "Luckily, we're not the ones who have to be scared of her. Anyway... be careful, Cthulhu." The fox slipped away.

The demon stared after her oddly. "Y-you too." Then he looked around and, for the first time, noticed that Hel had disappeared as well.

* * *

After about a quarter of an hour of aimless wandering around, Lucky turned a corner and almost ran into someone. Instinctively she sheathed her claws and hissed.

"Lucky, it's just me!"

The cat relaxed when she saw the blue-eyed gray bear. "Cthu-- oh wait, heh, sorry."

"That's okay, I get that a lot, actually."

Lucky shook her head. "Ivan, I've been looking all over for you! Where the hell have you been?"

"Er... lost?"

Rolling her eyes, Lucky sighed exasperatedly. "Ugh, figures. Well if you'd actually stayed with me, you would have run into your brother already!"

Ivan tensed. "Jonathan? Where is he? You saw him? Where is he?"

"You said 'where is he' twice--"

"Lucky!"

"How should I know where he is? We split up!"

It was Ivan's turn to sigh exasperatedly. "Well then if you'd actually stayed together, I would have run into him already!"

"Oh well..." Lucky patted his shoulder in mock sympathy. "I guess you'll be wandering around lost for just a bit longer, then."

"What? Where are you going?!"

"I gotta find my daughter!" Lucky retorted. "So you go find your brother." She grinned ruefully. "Darn... I guess I'll miss that adorable brotherly reunion after all."

"Fine by me, as long as I don't!" Ivan took off down the hall.

* * *

Cthulhu listened carefully for any sign of life anywhere. _Where is everyone?_ he thought irritatedly. _Are they all just gone to do whatever 'big' thing they have planned? Geez, this is boring! I wish something would happen!_

In the next split second, all Cthulhu could think of was that famous old saying that is disregarded far too many times: Be careful what you wish for.

There was the slightest rustle of fur, but the time the demon detected it, it was too late. Cthulhu was thrown backward against the wall, panic dangerously close to taking over when he felt the horrible pressure of paws around his throat.

Amber eyes, not hidden behind reflective sunglasses, glared wrathfully at him. _Vance!_

Panic prevented him from thinking straight. "V-Vance!" he managed to gasp out. "Wait, d-don't--"

"Shut up!" the weasel snarled. "I told you if you weren't in a mirror, I'd strangle you, didn't I?" His stranglehold tightened, cutting off all air from reaching his lungs.

Cthulhu's ears roared as his pulse pounded in his head. Dark spots appeared before his eyes, and fog obscured his mind. He tried to calm down, but calming down was hard when he couldn't take a breath.

Words managed to put themselves together in his muddled brain, but he couldn't let them out. Unable to make any noise except retching and grunting, he stared pleadingly at Vance. Not that it'd do him any good. And it didn't.

Unconsciousness threatened to take over, and desperation quickly took the place of panic. Frantic, he forced himself to choke out whatever he could say to stop Vance.

"Wait... please!"

Vance stared at him incredulously. "Are you begging?" In his disbelief, he loosened his grip a fraction.

The demon leaped at the chance. "N-not dead!" he managed to say through a half-open windpipe. "Nine lives... took 'er eighth... alive!"

Taken unawares, Vance released him. "What did you... just say?"

All strength gone, Cthulhu dropped to the floor, gasping heavily for breath. He coughed painfully, and he held his bruised throat gingerly with one paw. As soon as he had breathed enough to think straight, he found himself wheezing out an explanation. "Lucky's alive! She had nine lives! I took her eighth! I'm sorry, I swear it! She's not dead!"

Vance grabbed the front of his sweatshirt and hauled him up, shoving him against the wall. "How do I know you're not lying to save your life?"

The demon stared up at him, knowing his life depended on what he said. "Vance, I've done terrible things and I know it," he said with as much sincerity as he could muster. "I've hurt people, including you, including Lucky, Flippy, Ruby, and everyone who has ever known me. But have I ever lied before?"

"But why should I believe you?"

It was a simple question. One, Cthulhu realized, that could never be answered verbally. The demon glanced down at his own clenched paw, realizing then that he could have stopped Vance from strangling him for so long if he'd just noticed that his body had been paying more attention to his instincts than to his panicking consciousness.

He opened his clenched fist and held out Lucky's rock necklace.

Vance let go, blinking in astonishment. Hesitantly, as though he thought Cthulhu might snatch it away at the last second, he took the necklace. The weasel looked at him questioningly.

"W-we split up a while ago," Cthulhu explained, almost apologetically. He pointed back the way he'd come. "She might be over that way, but I can't be sure."

He didn't get a chance to say more; Vance was already gone. Cthulhu blinked. "Damn... that's what I call devoted. Finds a slim chance she might be alive, and he completely disregards the one responsible."

"GOTCHA!" Typhon's familiar voice made him jump and spin around. The guinea pig tackled him, practically sticking the barrel of a gun into his mouth. Cthulhu had every intention of worming his way out of this and kicking the crap out of his old enemy, but an idea struck him suddenly, and he decided against it.

With the gun pressed firmly between his eyes, Typhon dragged him to his feet. "The little weasel-kitty thing knows you killed her mommy," Typhon taunted. "Let's hope she doesn't carve you up too much before you tell her Mommy ain't dead. Soft spot for children, huh?"

Cthulhu glared at him with false defeat on his face. In his mind, he performed a little dance of triumph. Idiot guinea pig was leading him right to them.

Then Typhon punched him. Hard.

The gray bear was knocked to the ground, blood running down his chin from a split lip. The punch was immediately followed up by a kick in the stomach.

"Wait'll I get you all tied up," Typhon said with a malicious leer. "I'll have fun beating the snot out of you."

As Cthulhu let himself be marched down the hall, he inwardly sighed with long-suffering hopelessness. _The things I do..._

* * *

Spiker was dozing lightly when the door opened, and Typhon entered the room. He and Ari huddled together fearfully as the guinea pig dragged in another captive. With gray fur and blue eyes, and a reddish scar over his left eye.

Typhon punched the demon hard in the face, knocking him over, but Cthulhu smiled pleasantly up at him. "I'll enjoy paying you back for that, Typhon."

"You aren't in any position to pay back squat, Cthulhu!" Typhon snarled.

Ari snarled angrily at Cthulhu.

"You recognize him, I see," Typhon mocked as he chained Cthulhu to the wall. "Try not to slice him up too much, please. That privilege belongs to Kraken."

Ari hawked and spat neatly in his eye. "Screw you."

"Why you--" Typhon's temper exploded, and he uncoiled a whip from around his wrist. "I'll flay you for that!"

The two of them pressed together as the whip struck both of them simultaneously, squeezing a whimper out of Ari. She tried to stifle it. They knew that their tormentors practically thrived on their fear. As Typhon drew the whip back to strike again, Spiker closed his eyes. He felt a light breeze as the whip cracked again, but no pain came this time. Spiker dared to open his eyes a narrow slit. At once they flew open in shock.

Cthulhu crouched protectively over them, blocking them from the furious guinea pig. Blood ran from a gash on his back, but he treated the wound with as much contempt as he treated Typhon. "That all you got? I'm not impressed."

This earned him a kick from the guinea pig that knocked him to the ground. Typhon halled him up and threw him against the wall, producing a long serrated knife. Without any hesitation whatsoever, Typhon stabbed him through the shoulder, right next to the collarbone, until the tip could be heard scraping the wall.

Not even Cthulhu could bite back a cry of pain. Then, with a smile that gave Spiker a strong urge to throw up, Typhon changed his grip on the handle and slowly twisted. Agony and hatred suffused Cthulhu's face, and he yelled with pain.

Typhon wrenched the blade out of Cthulhu's shoulder. The captive demon slowly slid to the floor, leaving a bloody smear on the wall.

The smile never left Typhon's face. "It'll be fun breaking you," he remarked happily. "Just you wait, Kraken'll snap you like a toothpick." With that, he took both of his items of torture and left, closing the door behind him.

Ari stared at Cthulhu. "Do you think he's dead?"

"No. He's a demon."

"Demon, schmemon," Cthulhu said suddenly, heaving himself painfully up into sitting position. "Your mom took more than this and came back."

"My mom?" Ari echoed. "What are you talking about?" Her eyes went red with desperation.

"She's not dead," Cthulhu told her. "I killed her, true, but she isn't dead."

"But... Kraken said..."

"And he was probably right," the demon interrupted, looking sheepish. "But your mom's no normal cat. She has nine lives. Well.. one, now. Anyway, love to chat, but--" Blue flames blossomed from his paws, and his cuffs literally melted. Dragging himself to his feet, he limped over to the door and practically exploded the barred window.

He noticed Spiker and Ari looking astonished. "You know, it's always good to have an advantage that they don't know about. That's an advantage in itself." Though hindered by the pain in his shoulder and the odd twist in his right foot, the demon clambered through the hole and disappeared from view.

"Oh great," Ari growled. "He just flounces off and leaves us.

Sounds of a scuffle outside brought their attention back to the holed door, followed by the familiar jangling of keys. Cthulhu shouldered the door open and knelt by them to open the locks.

Spiker stared at them. "You saved my brother the day I got captured. Now you're freeing us. Why are you helping us all of a sudden?"

Cthulhu tossed the keys aside once the chains were off. "Because I want to, and that's really a big thing for me." The demon glanced outside to check for danger before turning back to Spiker and Ari. "Well? You coming or not?"

Immediately Spiker started forward, but Ari hesitated, looking uncertain.

"It's now or never, Ari," Spiker urged. "This is our only chance." He lowered his voice to a murmur. "Ari, I really don't think he's going to hurt us."

"How do you know?" He could tell she was scared. "How do you know he isn't just going to turn around and kill us both?"

"If he wanted to do that, he'd have done it already!" Spiker reasoned. "What would be the point of saving us and then just killing us?"

Ari glanced at Cthulhu, who stared back with a look of mild concern on his face. "I'll say it again, are you coming or not?"

"Oh no you don't!" Typhon had recovered from the "scuffle" from before, and now hurled himself at Cthulhu's unprotected back.

There was a flash of gray fur that did not belong to Cthulhu, and suddenly Typhon was once again lying dazed on the ground with another gray bear standing over him.

"Nearly got you, didn't he?" the bear said cheerfully to Cthulhu. "So how've you been?"

Spiker blinked. Cthulhu was gaping at the newcomer, who was like an exact copy of him, minus the scar. And rather than a dark gray hooded sweatshirt, the bear was wearing a red jacket with white stripes down the sleeves.

Shock seemed to have robbed Cthulhu of vital brain cells needed for non-monosyballic speech. "I... er... wha... but... uh, I... Oh."

Without warning, the bear caught Cthulhu in a headlock and began giving him an enthusiastic noogie. "Hey, bro, I missed ya!"

Cthulhu twisted out of his hold and held his shoulders at arm's length. Happiness replaced the astonishment in his eyes. "I-Ivan, is it really you?"

Joy filled Ivan's blue eyes, identical to Cthulhu's. "Yeah, Jonathan. It's me.

* * *

**YAYZ FOR BROTHERLY LOVE! Anyway... congrats to Tim Swanson, Second Hand Regret, and slpytlak for guessing correctly that the beginning part of the last chapter with Fenris and Jormungand was an homage to 'The Lion King' (when Banzai falls into the thorn thicket while chasing Simba, and Shenzi makes the 'Cactus-Butt' comment). And congratulations to Light Riku for being the only one to guess that the part where Lucky beats the pinto beans out of Flippy with a wrench was an homage to Fullmetal Alchemist. (In Volume 4, when Winry treats Alphonse similarly.) LUCKY PLUSHIES FOR TEH WINNAHS!**

**At your disposal (sort of),**

**Adderstar of ValorClan**


	18. Chapter 18

Through some bizarre coincidental turn of events, Lucky turned a corner and found herself face to face with Flippy. "Flippy!"

"Have you found anyone in here?" Flippy asked upon seeing her. "It's like they're all gone or hiding or something!"

"No, have you?" Lucky already knew the answer. "I wonder if anyone else has found anything?"

"I doubt it. After a while everything in this whole place looks exactly the same."

"Well, Cthulhu found me," a familiar voice called.

Lucky actually performed a twirl on one foot, smiling happily. "Vance!"

Overjoyed, the weasel caught her in a hug. "Jesus, Lucky... don't scare me like that."

Then something occurred to Lucky, and she blinked up at him anxiously. "Er... Vance, you didn't kill him, did you?"

"You mean Cthulhu? No," Vance assured her. "At least, I don't think so. He looked okay to me. But a few bruises around the throat never killed anyone--"

"Va-ance!"

"What?" The weasel was immediately on the defensive. "Can you blame me? I thought you were dead for good! I was feeling a bit pissed off, if you don't mind! So tell me; what is it with Cthulhu that makes you leap to his defense? I mean, after he just killed you? Why're you still on his side?"

Vance could not have possibly missed the grave look that passed between Flippy and Lucky. "Oh, Vance," Lucky murmured. "If only you knew."

Not knowing how to answer you, the weasel changed the subject by nodding to Flippy, who was still looking a little bruised. "So... what happened to you, Flippy? Did you crash into the wall or something?"

"Did you notice that your wife is carrying a wrench?" Flippy answered his question with another question.

"Why'd you do that?"

"I'm always a short fuse whenever I come back from the afterlife," Lucky explained. "I lost my temper."

"Deserved it," Flippy admitted sheepishly.

"Well..." Lucky sighed. "Let's try to find the others. I'll explain everything to both of you."

* * *

Cthulhu still couldn't believe it. _How the HELL did Ivan get here?_ "How the HELL did you get here?"

"Sorry it took so long," Ivan apologized with a grin. "Weird, obscure metaphysical rules and all that crap."

"Oh," was all Cthulhu could think of saying.

Without warning, Ivan clunked him-- hard-- between the ears with a clenched paw. "YOU JERK!"

"Ow! What the hell was that for?"

"You shot me!"

"Oh, I shot you? Only after you stabbed me in the throat!"

"You shot me six times!"

Cthulhu opened his mouth, then closed it.

"You emptied an entire friggin' revolver into my chest, you idiot!"

The demon grinned weakly. "Eheh... yeah... sorry about that..."

"Uhh... Cthulhu... Is that your clone or something?" Spiker asked, speaking for the first time since Ivan's appearance.

The two of them looked at each other. "Close enough," they said in perfect unison.

Then some sixth sense made Cthulhu tense in readiness. The demon looked over his shoulder to see a small gray and white dog crouched low on the ground, a few yards behind him. The little creature's lips were pulled back in an ugly snarl, and its eyes were crazed.

"Aw, crap," Spiker muttered, backing up slowly. "It's one of those things."

Ivan looked past the dog, where the clicking and scratching of many claws on the floor could be heard. smiling nervously. "Er... I wouldn't say just 'one' of them."

"Where'd they come from?" Ari hissed as more and more dogs poured into the small space, some actually climbing over each other.

"I wouldn't have put it past Kraken to have something like this," Cthulhu said distastefully.

"What do we do?" Spiker whispered cautiously.

"Running would be a good idea," Ari suggested.

"Seconded," Cthulhu and Ivan said simultaneously.

The four of them tore down the hall with a pack of maddened dogs in close pursuit. Thanks to the weight of numbers, the dogs found it hard to keep from stumbling over one another, and so the runners were able to gain some ground between them.

Suddenly Reaper appeared beside them. "Finally I found you!" the small demon said upon seeing them. "What are you running from-- WHOA!"

"Who's the shrimp?" Ivan asked.

"Who you callin' a shrimp?!" Reaper snarled. "Don't call me a shrimp, or a runt, or a midget!"

"I didn't say all of that!"

Suddenly Spiker let out a glad cry. "DAD!"

Flippy's voice could be heard, just around the corner. "I just heard Spiker! This way!" The green bear rushed out to meet them, only to be shoved back by both Ivan and Cthulhu.

"NOT THIS WAY! NOT THIS WAY!"

At that moment, they had gained enough ground for Cthulhu to do something about the dogs. Dropping back, the demon slammed both paws down on the ground. For a moment, his eyes blackened.

_FOOM!_

High pitched whining erupted from the dogs near the front as a wall of bright blue fire erupted from the floor. When the fire had burned down moments later, all of the dogs had been reduced back to harmless little creatures with huge eyes that put Bambi to shame.

Cthulhu stepped back, panting. "If anybody whistles, I will _personally_--"

"Dad! Lucky!"

"Mom! Dad!"

As the children were reunited with their respective parents. Ivan practically pranced over to Cthulhu and gave him a playful shove that nearly knocked him over. "That's a new trick, bro. Care to teach it to me?"

Cthulhu laughed. "You wish! Sorry, you gotta be a demon. Betcha wish you were one now, huh?"

"Hell no!" Ivan retorted. Then as an afterthought, he added, "No pun intended." Cthulhu smirked.

Flippy opened his mouth, then closed it. He glanced from one to the other, then back again.

Lucky nudged him roughly. "See, I told you it was scary."

"Oh great," Flippy said, rolling his eyes. "More twins."

"What's wrong with twins?" Cthulhu demanded.

"Twins are a superious race," Ivan added. "We're identical, the exact same age. Except I'm three seconds older."

"You are not!"

"Am too!"

"Are not!"

"Am too!"

"Are not!"

"Am too!"

"Are not!"

"You wish you were the older twin!"

"There was a time when I could--"

"Finish my sentences?"

"Yeah! Wait..."

"You were always an idiot, as I recall."

"Shut up, Jonathan!"

"Ha! It's funny 'cause it's true."

During their argument, they had not noticed Lucky approach them from the side. Without warning the cat banged their heads together sharply. "If you two don't shut up right now, I'm tying you to the wall and whistling!"

Rubbing his head, Ivan rolled his eyes. "I'm terrified."

"Er... did I miss something?" Ruby appeared seemingly out of nowhere, flipping her knife over her paw and staring oddly at them. "I had no idea they'd perfected the cloning process."

"They didn't," Cthulhu explained. "This is my brother, Ivan."

Unfortunately, Ruby had not seen the dogs milling around uncertainly behind them. She whistled with amazement. "Your brother? Wow, disregarding the scar, I can't even tell you guys apart."

"DAMMIT RUBY!" Maybe the shout came from Cthulhu, maybe Lucky, maybe Flippy, or maybe from everyone at once. But no one could tell, nor could they care, for at that moment the dogs reverted back to their violent, bloodthirsty selves, and the chase resumed.

"Ruby, you idiot!" Lucky snarled. "Didn't you see the dogs? Didn't you?!"

The fox was embarrassed and angry at the same time. "No, actually, I didn't!"

"Can we save this for later, please?" Cthulhu snapped. "We don't have time for this! I'm actually not a fountain of unlimited hellfire, you know! I can't exactly repeat what I just did!"

Further conversation was cut off when the dogs caught up with them.

The next few minutes were a blur to Cthulhu. The natural instinct of self-preservation took over, as did the previously dormant consequence of his brutal experiences: the bloody desire to kill. The dogs within his reach actually flew through the air, one limb at a time, but their bloodthirst was just as powerful as his. Even though he continued to mow them down several at a time, they leaped at him undeterred. These were no demons. They were just animals, empowered by madness and nothing else.

But even through this, Cthulhu stayed conscious of his surroundings and of those around him. The number of dogs was almost stifling, but the demon cut a swathe through them that enabled him to escape.

The red wrath cleared momentarily, and he found himself standing beyond the crowd of dogs. Ivan was there, standing grimly next to Reaper, Spiker, and Ari. "Where's Lucky?" the former asked. Cthulhu looked around for a moment before spotting Lucky on the opposite end of the mass of canines. For a moment, blue and green eyes locked. Lucky narrowed hers, giving him a look that clearly said, _If you leave those two behind, I will personally see you tarred, feathered, flayed, drawn, and quartered._ The demon replied with a small nod, and the cat turned and fled down the hall with have the howling pack snapping at her heels.

"Come on!" Cthulhu urged. "We'll have to meet them back at Happy Tree Town."

"But what about--" Spiker began hesitantly.

"There's no time for that now," Ivan snapped. "The dogs!"

Reaper suddenly recognized the place. "I know where we are! Follow me!"

The other four needed no second urging. With Reaper leading them, they pelted away from their four-legged enemies as fast as they possibly could.

A chuckle escaped Cthulhu's mouth when he saw the broken window. Wasting no time on manners, Reaper heaved Spiker up and through it. Shards of glass cut his paws, but he made no complaint. Ari, with her feline heritage, needed no assistance in leaping lightly up to the window and clambering through. Ivan dove outside after her, and Cthulhu and Reaper followed, just as the leading dog was about to close its jaws around Reaper's tail. She impaled it on her macelike tail tip before flicking it back into the crowd.

Once outside, though, they could not stop to rest. The dogs were agile as well as fierce, and though it slowed them down, they were able to leap through the opening with little trouble. They were up and running through the woods, their hearts practically leaping to their throats. When they approached Happy Tree Town, though, the five of them slowed to a halt, their eyes wide.

There were more dogs, of various fur coloration, waiting for them. For a second panic gripped Cthulhu. He could not fight his way through and watch over Spiker and Ari at the same time.

"Ari! Spiker!" The urgent voice came from above. They looked up into the tree to see Jake and Boomer standing on a wide limb.

"Thank God--" Ari began, before Jake launched himself at Cthulhu. The younger cat-weasel barreled into her brother, snarling. "Idiot! He's on our side!"

"Up in the tree!" Boomer urged. "The dogs can't climb!"

Muttering "sorry" to Cthulhu, Jake hurried to comply. Ari shot up the trunk like a squirrel, and Reaper leaped up after her. Before long, they were all in the branches while dogs scrabbled vainly to get at them.

"What do we do now?" Boomer murmured.

"We give 'em hell," Jake replied grimly.

Ari unsheathed her claws, her green eyes reddening. "We may be kids, but we can beat some dumb ol' dogs," she snarled, lashing her tail. "What's been happening, Boomer?"

"Not sure," the cat-weasel replied. "Splash managed to get through to the houses, but as far as we can see, everything's locked up. We met these dogs when we got back, and we've been sitting up here twiddling her paws since. But now I think we have a chance."

Spiker's quills stood on end, forcing those closest to him to move away. "It'll be just like one of those hack and slash RPGs, eh, Jake?"

"Yeah," the oldest cat-weasel said with a curt nod. "And about all that stuff since we were little... no hard feelings, right?"

"Nah," Spiker brushed off his half-apology. "Nothing like a life or death situation to bury a few hatchets."

"Wish it was that easy for me," Cthulhu muttered.

"Well? Can we do this?" Reaper said impatiently. "On the count of three?"

"One..."

"Two..."

"Two and a half..."

"Shut up, Ivan!"

"THREE!"

Numbering seven, the group simultaneously leapt.

A fierce exhilaration filled Cthulhu as he fought to stay close to Spiker and Ari, as he'd silently promised. They ran at the same time as they fought, struggling toward the safety of the houses. Blood and fur flew as Cthulhu kept his eyes trained on the nearest house, Flippy's. The dogs had not quite entered Happy Tree Town, but were now concentrating their wrath on them.

Cthulhu alternated with his knife and his fire before breaking loose of the crowd. Spiker and Ari, having had the sense to stay close to him, were battered and bruised but unhurt, and Ivan was emerging with the other three by his side. Confused and disorganized, the dogs attacked each other in their blood lust, and it took a while for them to continue the pursuit. But by that time, they'd reached the front door of the bearcupine family's house.

Cthulhu banged furiously. "OPEN THE DAWG-DAMN DOOR!"

"Hurry!" Ari added urgently. "They're coming!"

"It's Ari! Open the door!" The speaker was clearly Flaky. Cthulhu listened for the sound of the door unlocking before he shoved it open and waited for the others to get in before entering himself. No sooner did he slam the door behind him than the first dog attacked it. Shoving his full weight against the door with his arms spread across it, Cthulhu used all his strength to keep the still-unlocked door from being forced open.

Looking at the others in the room, he was not surprised to see Flaky hugging her son while the rest of them stared at him with a mixture of fear, wariness, and hatred.

Cthulhu stared at them pleadingly. "Um... somebody care to lock the door for me? I can't really move... or else they'll get in. Please?"

With a grunt of annoyance, Jake went forward and latched the door securely shut. Cthulhu relaxed with a sigh of relief.

Cuddles held up a shotgun and cocked it threateningly. Reaper intercepted him, placing her paw on the barrel. "Wait! He's here to help!

Wary but willing to believe the smaller demon, Cuddles reluctantly lowered his weapon. "Oh, you gotta be kidding me."

Cthulhu grimaced in revulsion as he dusted himself off. "Anybody got a breath mint? I got some guts in my mouth when I was killing my way in here."

* * *

**Heheh, funny story about that last line. It's an homage to the show Supernatural, and I've been waiting to use that line since I was still writing Call of Cthulhu. In fact, I actually decided to make Cthulhu good just so I could use that line. Then I went from there.**

**At your disposal (sort of),**

**Adderstar of ValorClan**


	19. Chapter 19

Flaky was still hugging Spiker, crying softly. "Mom." Spiker's face was unusually serious. He nodded to Cthulhu. "He stayed with us, the whole time."

"We might not have gotten out, if it hadn't been for him," Ari added sincerely.

Flaky looked up at Cthulhu as she continued hugging her son. There was desperation still fading from her eyes as she mouthed silently the words, _Thank you_. Overwhelmed by the raw gratitude in her gaze, Cthulhu could not bring himself to answer verbally but gave her a tiny nod.

The others crowded in the house relaxed slightly but remained wary of him. When they caught sight of Ivan, who was like a mirror image (minus the scar, of course).

"Who're you?" Teddy asked him.

Ivan and Cthulhu looked at each other, then back at the others before saying at the same time, "You mean you can't tell?"

Several bewildered glances were exchanged.

"Okay, fine, I'll tell you," Ivan said with a disarming grin. "I'm his clone!"

"_Ivan!_" Cthulhu rolled his eyes.

"What? First impressions are very important, you know." Ivan glanced briefly at everyone present. "And from the looks of things, you pretty much screwed yours up."

"Don't think I haven't kicked myself about that, many times."

"So what happened?" Splash asked. "How come everyone's in one house?"

"We thought there might be safety in numbers," Cuddles said.

"Try telling that to them," Reaper said, jerking her head toward the window. "To them, you've just got all the food in one place."

* * *

Lucky was perched in a tree, her nose twitching as she examined the branch. Like a true cat, she pointedly ignored the growling, snarling animals clawing at the base of the trunk to get at her, but busied herself scrutinizing the limb. Black, green, and gray fur was caught beneath the bark, and she was sure this was a sign that Cthulhu, Ari, and Spiker had been here. She knew it wasn't Flippy, because she'd just parted ways with him minutes before.

Voices below made her freeze momentarily before clambering higher into the thicker foliage to listen in unnoticed. One voice she recognized in an instant: Kraken's. She couldn't quite see through the leaves, but her keen ears picked up the conversation below between Kraken and... Typhon! It had to be Typhon.

"Where'd they go, Typhon?" Kraken demanded, proving Lucky's guess correct. "I give you one simple job: guard the place. You even managed to capture him, didn't you? And then you let him escape again!" His voice grew low and menacing. "I hate not knowing where my enemies are. Especially that cat. I don't like having that cat out of my sight."

"Er... they run fast, you know," the guinea pig stammered.

"Don't you think I know that already, idiot?" Kraken snapped. "Ah well... nothing for it now, I guess. Just watch your back, especially when it comes to the little brats."

"Uh... How come?"

"You really are an idiot, aren't you? Most of the time, the most ferocious creature on earth is a female who fears for the life of her brats. Most of the time, of course. I knew of one--"

"Wrong, Kraken," Lucky called out boldly. "There's one creature more vicious than even a mother who sees her children in danger."

"Lucky," Kraken called up wheedlingly. "Why don't you come out where we can see you and enlighten us?"

Making sure there were no snipers nearby, Lucky obliged. As she came out onto the limb she'd been on before, she opened her mouth to tell him. Then she saw Kraken. She saw who he was.

The words froze in her throat, before being replaced by new ones. The leaves rustled, shaken by her sweeping tail. "You," she said simply. "I might have known."

Turning, she leapt into the next tree and branch-hopped like a squirrel, making her way frantically for the nearest house she could see. A single thought, directed toward Shadow, screamed in her mind.

_Something you might have forgotten to mention?!_

* * *

Flippy, Vance, and Ruby had stayed together, opting to take the long way around to avoid the dogs. They managed to give the maddened animals the slip and cut around to the back of Happy Tree Town, where no dogs were in sight. When they reached Flippy's house, they found the dogs clustered around the front, and a few working their way toward the back.

"This is our only chance," Flippy said urgently. "Now!" Whipping out his house key, he reached the door first, unlocked it, opened it, and shoved both his companions inside before rushing in himself and locking the door. Sighing in relief, they made their way to the front of the house where everyone else was.

"Oh good, you got here all right, then," Cthulhu called over upon seeing them. With his heart hammering in his chest, Flippy could only just look up and nod in acknowledgement of the demon.

Ivan blinked in confusion. "Where's Lucky? I thought she was with you guys."

"Lucky?" Cuddles interrupted tersely. "Lucky's dead. Killed by _him_," he added, jerking his head at Cthulhu.

Vance stared from Cthulhu to Ivan. "You didn't tell them?"

"We didn't really have a chance," Cthulhu explained. "We just got here, too. So where's Lucky?"

"What's going on?" Jake demanded boldly, his eyes lighting up with a spark of desperate hope.

"Nine lives; she had nine lives all along," Cthulhu murmured. "Even though I killed her, she still came back."

"And we should believe _you_ because...?" Cuddles challenged.

"Because we can vouch for it," Flippy retorted, placing himself firmly on Cthulhu's side. "Lucky's not dead."

"If he told you that, then he's lying," the rabbit said stubbornly.

"He's not lying, I saw her myself," Flippy said. "She's as live as you and me."

"Except for the nine lives part," Vance put in.

"Well... actually... I have one left. But close enough." Coughing on soot, Lucky half crawled, half fell down the chimney, landing flat on her face in a cloud of ash. Shaking black dust from her fur, Lucky got to her feet and waved lazily. "Hey guys, I hope nobody's died so far."

In less than four seconds, a majority of those in the room had tackled her with joy.

"Lucky!"

"You're alive!"

"I don't believe it!"

"Sorry, Jake," Ari apologized. "In all the excitement, I forgot to mention that."

Jake mumbled something in reply. Of all of them, he and Boomer were the only ones Lucky was hugging back.

Slightly put off by the fact that no one had believed him until seeing living proof, Cthulhu retreated to a corner and sulked quietly.

"C'mon, dillhole, you can't really blame them." Reaper was now visible in the mirror, having returned control to Needles. The little bearcupine stood next to the wall, once again fiddling with her Rubiks cube.

"It still pisses me off, even though I know it's my own fault," Cthulhu grumbled.

Lucky had extricated herself from her friends and was looking at him oddly. She opened her mouth as if to speak, but quickly she shut it when a heated dispute broke out between Cuddles, Ruby, and several of the kids.

"I'm serious, Cuddles, Cthulhu's on our side now!" Ruby argued vehemently.

"He saved my life," Splash murmured. "And then he got my brother and Ari out of there."

"What if he's just doing these things to gain trust?" Cuddles shot back, not caring that Cthulhu was well within hearing range. Most of those who had stayed in Happy Tree Town were nodding in agreement and muttering among themselves, clearly siding with Cuddles.

"I agree," Toothy said loudly. "I mean, we saw Kraken earlier, didn't we?"

Cthulhu narrowed his eyes. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Cut the crap, Cthulhu," Cuddles snapped angrily. "We know who he is."

"Um... should I?" Cthulhu instinctively looked to Lucky for help. To his surprise, she looked away.

"Yeah," Cuddles said boldly. "The family resemblance was astonishing, I have to say."

Cthulhu blinked. "...What are you saying? What do you mean by that?"

"Oh, please." Cuddles rolled his eyes. "We know he's your dad already, so quit playing dumb."

Cthulhu took a step back. "Wh-what did you just say?"

"You mean you didn't know?" Cuddles said scornfully. "He came by to gloat earlier."

"N-no, no, you have to be wrong!" Cthulhu's eyes went wide with horror. He forced the shaking out of his voice. "What'd he look like? Tell me!"

"Just like you, only taller and with the same colored eyes as always, yellowish-brown," Cuddles replied promptly.

Cthulhu turned away, wiping a cold drop of sweat from his forehead. "This whole time... the eyes... damn it, why didn't I see it before?"

"So finally I can see where you get it," Cuddles taunted recklessly.

The demon actually flinched, as if Cuddles had thrown a punch at him. "What... did you just say?"

Cuddles leaned against the wall opposite him. "You know what they say. _Like father like son!_"

That struck home. Cthulhu's paw flew to his knife and held it by the flat of the blade. Snarling through clenched teeth, he spun around to face the rabbit and hurled it in the same motion.

THUNK!

Cuddles stood absolutely still, not moving a single hair or eyeball. The knife had been driven blade-deep just over his head, pinning the tuft of fur between his ears to the wall. His eyes were wide and unblinking as he stared, terror-stricken, at Cthulhu.

The demon was breathing hard with rage, his paws curled into fists and his sharp teeth clenched. Tears leaked out of the corners of his eyes as he gritted out, "I'm sorry, was I cutting a little close? Was I?" Cuddles managed to just barely nod. "Well, so were you!" Without even bothering to retrieve his weapon, Cthulhu stalked out of the room. When he was about to pass Lucky, he paused.

"How long have you known?" he asked quietly.

Lucky's ears were flat against her head, which she lowered apologetically. "I found out when I was on my way here, just now, I swear! I wanted to tell you, but..." She wiped her eyes on her arm. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

Glaring at Cuddles, Ruby stepped forward. "Jonathan!"

Surprised by her use of his real name, Cthulhu half-turned his head to look at her.

Ruby's red eyes burned. "You beat him once, and you can beat him again."

Cthulhu gave a curt nod and left the room.

Cuddles hesitantly reached up and pulled the knife out of the wall and stepped away. "D-did you see that? Bastard almost killed me! Again!"

With a hiss, Lucky started forward aggressively. Flippy and Ruby simultaneously took a step toward the rabbit. But Ivan beat him to it. The bear slammed him back against the wall. "SHUT UP! Just shut up! Don't run your mouth about something when you know nothing about it! How dare you!"

"I know enough," Cuddles murmured in his defense.

"You... know... NOTHING!" Ivan snarled. Releasing him roughly, the bear turned and went after his brother.

Cuddles dusted himself off and turned appealingly to Flippy. "You see, they're just proving--"

"Cuddles." Flippy's voice dripped with menace. His black eyes blazed with fury. "If you say one more word, _I'll_ be the one to snap."

The rabbit shut his mouth and didn't say another word on the subject.

* * *

"Jonathan. Hey, c'mon."

"I don't believe it," Cthulhu said, ignoring his brother. "But after all that... why won't he just leave me alone?"

Ivan looked at the floor. "I can't answer that."

"Did you know it was him?"

"No, I didn't. I had no idea." Ivan glanced at his brother. "He's not like you, you know."

"I'm not so sure about that anymore, Ivan."

"Jon," Ivan said seriously, using the old shortened-down name he used to use all the time. "Shadow showed me his past once. He's really not like you. There are... there are times when evil is just... well, evil."

"Yeah... I guess."

"Hey, Cthulhu."

Both bears turned to see Teddy, Flippy's younger brother, standing their. The undersized bear swallowed hard before continuing. "I... Flippy spoke out for you, you know."

"Yeah, I heard."

"I thought so." Teddy's large, dark eyes were serious. "You know, Cthulhu, he had the same look on his face as he always did when he was sticking up for me when we were kids. And... if my big brother says you're okay, then I think you're okay. That's all I have to say."

When Teddy had left, Ivan gave his brother a reassuring grin. "Jonathan, last time you took him on alone. This time there are people on your side. We can do this."

Cthulhu shot a glance over to the window where dogs were still clawing to get in. "I hope so, Ivan."

* * *

**So... first Flippy was being a pain in the dick with a rod up his butthole, now it's Cuddles' turn! Oh yeah, I forgot to do that thing I usually do after a chapter like this... what was it... oh yes...**

**PLOT TWIST! Best plot twist EVER!**

**At your disposal (sort of),**

**Adderstar of ValorClan**


	20. Chapter 20

That night was not passed easily.

In Flippy's crowded house, everyone took turns keeping watch while the others slept as much as they could on the floor. Everyone, on their respective shifts, jumped at every noise, and every visible movement. The younger ones had it especially hard, and Cuddles kept snapping awake due to paranoia. The rabbit had not been intimidated out of his distrust of Cthulhu, and would lie awake for hours at a time, watching him suspiciously.

As for the demons... Kraken was faring little better. For, with life came certain requirements, such as sleep. And with sleep came nightmares. In his sleep, he could see three pairs of blue eyes blazing down on him accusingly. Two framed with gray fur, one framed with red fur and bristling quills. That bearcupine brat...

But for the first time in his life and after his death, Kraken felt fear. Turning away from the eyes, he found himself presented with a familiar face. Blue eyes as well... and purple fur.

Lilia smiled mockingly at him. "The worst fear of every mother is to see her children get hurt. You said so yourself, _Steven_."

"Follow your own advice, you sorry bastard," a new voice hissed. Green eyes glowing, the black cat displayed two rows of sharp, white teeth in a deadly smile. "Be careful when you hurt people. They'll come back to haunt you. I remember you in the war, Kraken. You killed Vance, but I saved him. I didn't kill you then even though I could have, before you were a demon. I gave you a chance to give up vice, and you threw it away."

"Something Jonathan was smart enough to not do," Lilia added. "What has that gotten him? Friendship and loyalty, which would be more than worth their weight in gold if they had mass. What have you got, demon? A pack of crazed dogs and a few demons who would turn their backs and run the other way if things started to turn ugly."

"Don't talk bullcrap," Kraken snarled, turning to Lucky. "Why are you here, cat? I've never done anything to you."

"Not to me, maybe, but you've done plenty." Lucky's eyes flickered red. "I just came to warn you, that's all. Jonathan's power involves fire, doesn't it? It also involves family. Blood is thicker than water, demon. Remember that."

The nightmare ended.

* * *

Shadow the ermine smiled in spite of himself. "If I didn't know better, Lucky, I would have thought you enjoyed that."

"I did, and I'm happy to help." The cat smiled, knowing that this was all happening in her sleep. But that did not necessarily mean it was not real. "I like to see that guy squirm. It's a small sadistic pleasure of mine."

"I thought my heart was going to explode," Lilia said with a sigh of relief. "I just hope my sons can overcome him. Especially Jonathan. He suffered the worst. And still he's mistrusted. Can you do anything else, Lucky?"

"It's his own mistakes that got him so hated," the cat replied. "I can't carry him all the way through. All I can do is shove him forward."

"But I think sending Kraken that message helped a lot," Shadow said optomistically.

"I think he was wetting himself, figuratively," Lucky purred. "I'm glad to have been able to do that. You know... if your enemy is tired and beginning to doubt, you've already won half the battle."

Lucky awoke to see Vance shaking her. "Wake up, Lucky, it's our turn. Dunno how you can sleep, though. I've been off and on since I first lay down. And why are you smiling at a time like this?"

The black cat was hard put to hold back a purr of satisfaction. "It's nothing, Vance. I just had a really, really good dream."

* * *

Cthulhu awoke groggily to immediate blindness. The rising sun was at just the right angle so that it blazed down right in his eyes. Muttering and swearing under his breath, the demon dragged himself up and waited for the purple spots to leave. By some miracle, everyone had managed to finally fall asleep. And at this point he envied them. Now that he was awake, there was no way he was going back to sleep, no matter how tired he felt right now.

_Oh yeah, that's right... I haven't had to sleep for centuries, and I'd forgotten that I'm really not a morning person._

"Ugh..." Cthulhu looked over at his brother and poked him. "Hey, Ivan, are you awake?"

Ivan's eyes opened slowly, and it was clear that, before that point, he had not been awake. Turning his head slowly, Ivan gave him a completely malicious look that would have given anyone else night-terrors.

Oh, right. Ivan wasn't a morning person, either.

Cthulhu got up as quickly as he could. "Point taken, Mr. Low Blood Pressure Evil Lord."

The demon blinked sleepily as he went into the kitchen, surprised to find Reaper already there with a steaming mug in her paw.

"Mornin', sunshine," she grunted.

Cthulhu sniffed. "Is that coffee?"

Reaper took a sip and glared at him. "Last watch was mine. I don't give a damn what Needles says about stunting my, eh, our growth, I need my morning pick-me-up." She indicated the coffee maker with a jerk of her head. "There's still some left. You want any?"

"No thanks, I'm already kind of a midget."

The younger demon squinted up at him. (Keyword, _up._) "And your object of contrast is...?"

"I was short when I was a kid, okay?"

"Mm, right."

On the living room floor, more and more were starting awake and getting up, some less willingly than others. Cthulhu strode out to watch, highly amused.

"I DON'T WANNA I DON'T WANNA I DON'T WANNA!" Vance quickly clamped a paw over Cuddles' mouth to shut him up before moving on to Lucky. The rabbit came fully awake. "Oh, geez... nightmare."

"Lucky? Lucky, wake up." Vance shook her.

"Hrmmmm... go'way."

"Come on, Lucky! Get up!"

There was no audible response from the mostly-asleep black cat. Vance sighed frustratedly.

"Have you forgotten that were locked in a house surrounded by demons and demented puppies and god knows what else?"

Lucky quickly raised her head, blinking rapidly. "Huh? What? Oh yeah..."

Reaper had woken up sufficiently and was smiling cheerfully at everyone who happened to pass by her. "Goooohood morning, everyone! It's a lovely morning for killing demons and kicking ass, isn't it?"

Flippy, who was used to getting up early from his army days, gave Cthulhu a questioning look.

"Coffee," Cthulhu explained.

"Ah."

Cuddles' ears drooped. "Well, it's the beginning of Day 2 that we're stuck in this god-damn-- no offense, Flippy," the rabbit quickly apologized to the bear, who was looking a bit insulted. "Question is, what do we do now? Suggestions, anyone?"

"Rule number one when fighting," Cthulhu told him. "Know your enemy first. Don't make the first move if you can help it."

"Who asked you?" Cuddles said under his breath.

"Uh, you did, when you said the word 'anyone'," Ivan put forward (he'd finally gotten up).

Cthulhu snorted. "Fine by me if you don't want my advice. Maybe I'll just shut up, then."

"Fine by me, too," the rabbit shot back, shooting a half-sneer at Ivan.

"Now wait a second, Cuddles, if you'll just stop thinking with your ego and actually start thinking with your brain, just for a second here," Vance said tersely, placing himself firmly on Cthulhu's side. "In case you hadn't noticed, we're all stuck in here together. All of us, including Cthulhu and Ivan." He turned back to the demon. "You were saying?"

Surprised, though not unpleasantly so, that Vance (who, as we may remember, strangled him) was siding with him, Cthulhu gave the weasel a grateful look before continuing. "Well, Kraken came by earlier to gloat, right? Now that it's a new day and there are more people here than before, he'll probably do that again. Did he mention his intentions yesterday?"

"Not directly, but I think they're pretty clear," Flaky said grimly.

"True," Cthulhu admitted. "But once we try talking to him, we may be able to see farther into exactly what his plans are, and then go from there."

"So basically you want us to just wing it," Cuddles muttered contemptuously, loud enough to be heard but soft enough so it didn't sound like he wanted to be heard.

Lucky tweaked one of his long ears. "Got another idea, bunny boy? If you do, let's hear it."

"Well, if we do end up going out and fighting for all we're worth, then how do we go about doing that?" Vance put forward. "Because I have a feeling we'll be resorting to that before all this is over."

"What do you mean by 'how do we go about doing that'?" Lucky asked.

"Well, we may want to keep the place secure," Vance explained. "We need a place to fall back to, right? We shouldn't use the doors to get out if we can help it."

"How about the chimney?" Jake suggested. "That's how Mom got in, right?"

"There's an idea," Lucky said, looking thoughtful. "It's a wide enough space, that's for sure. And it's high up, so the dogs can't reach it."

"But not everybody's a cat," Flaky pointed out. "We can't all climb up there."

Lucky paused, squinting one eye thoughtfully.

"I know I'm kind of thinking outside the box here," Jake said, rolling his eyes, "but how about... A LADDER?"

Lucky laughed before headlocking her son and giving him a noogy. "Attaboy, Jake. Your father's good looks and your mother's brains."

"And an attitude from either one of them," Cthulhu and Ivan muttered to each other, simultaneously.

A pebble struck one of the windows with a light tap.

"Sounds like demon boy wants a chat," Lucky said grimly. "I'm going up top."

Flippy had fetched a ladder from the garage and, with some help, got it up in the chimney.

Cthulhu stared up it and gave an involuntary shudder. Noticing this, Ivan gripped his shoulder. "C'mon, Jonathan, it's now or never. Time to show the bastard that we aren't taking his crap anymore. Time for my favorite part of a fight, if you know what I mean." In truth, he sounded much more confident than he looked.

A slow smile spread across Cthulhu's scarred face. Somehow the fact that his brother was just as scared as he was reassured him. "You thinking what I'm thinking?"

Ivan began climbing the ladder. "If you're thinking trash talk, then yeah, I think so. Too bad we don't have more time. Then we could draw up a script."

"Well, as Cuddles put it, we'll wing it."

"Sounds good to me, bro."

* * *

Lucky's hackles rose at the sight of Kraken, and her claws shot in and out experimentally. Holding back anger, she scraped her razor-keen talons against the roof, feeling reassured by their sharpness. "Well, Kraken? What d'you want?"

"I want to talk for now," Kraken called up. "If you hadn't noticed, I practically have you under siege."

The cat flattened her ears angrily, sparing a moment to note the family resemblance between Kraken, Cthulhu, and Ivan. It was uncanny.

"Hey, old-timer!" Ivan taunted. "I hope you haven't forgotten your other son! Er, you haven't, have you? See, 'cause there're these things I hear about, called 'senior moments'--"

"Shut up, brat!" Kraken snarled. "I can still smack you across the room with my paws tied behind my back!"

The fur on the back of Ivan's neck prickled, but he suppressed his anger and turned it into disdain. "'Brat'? Is that the best you can come up with?"

Behind him, Cthulhu climbed nimbly out onto the roof, his eyes unreadable as he looked down at his longtime enemy. "Even I could do better! Maybe you should have made cue cards!"

"Well, well, look who's here." A cold smile flickered onto Kraken's face. "My favorite little hopping punching bag."

To Lucky's relief, Cthulhu did not rise to the bait. The demon bristled angrily but chose not to be provoked. Lucky glanced down at the roof beneath her paws, as if she could see through it to those inside who were watching. After all, no one in there except Ruby, Vance, Flippy, and Reaper knew of Cthulhu's childhood. Slowly the cat transferred her gaze back to Kraken.

"Good morning by the way, Kraken," she baited him mockingly. "I hope you had a good night's sleep?" This, of course, would mean nothing to anyone but herself, Kraken, Shadow, and Lilia. Lucky grinned in spite of herself. There was so much to gain from having allies from beyond the grave. They could help you do really cool stuff, like walk in people's dreams.

Kraken bared his teeth. "I will make you regret that, you rat-munching feline."

"'Rat-munching feline'?" Cthulhu called back. "That's more like it. I was beginning to think you'd lost your touch."

Kraken cracked his neck. "No, I don't think I have, boy. I'm sure you two will find that out soon enough."

Ivan ground his teeth audibly. "Go ahead, keep telling yourself that," he gritted out.

"Oh I will, because I know it's true." A sadistic gleam had entered Kraken's light brown eyes. "The three of us have a lot of catching up to do." His hideous smile was directed at Cthulhu. "Isn't that right?"

Cthulhu's lips parted, displaying two rows of sharp teeth. His blue eyes sparked. "I'm not ten years old anymore, Dad!"

Lucky could almost hear the sharp intakes of breath from inside the house. She backed off with a meaningful glance at Cthulhu. This was no longer her argument.

"You think that makes a difference, boy?" Kraken snarled back.

"It makes a huge difference," Cthulhu shot back. "Times have changed. I'm not the sobbing little kid you remember!"

"By the time I'm done with you, you will be!" Kraken countered. "By the time I'm finished with both of you, you'll be making your dearly departed mommy look heroic!"

In Cthulhu's eyes, that was the straw that not only broke the camel's back, but snapped the animal's spine in half so that it fell off a cliff into a lake full of half-starved crocodiles. Eyes flickering between bright blue and glassy black, Cthulhu trembled with rage.

"We... will make you _pay_," he snarled, "for every drop of pain you caused me, you caused Ivan, you... you caused Mom..." Cthulhu broke off, fighting back tears. "I spent a good part of my afterlife in Hell because of YOU! You can't do any more than that, Kraken! What the fuck is it that you want from me?"

The smile widened on Kraken's face as he answered quite simply, "Pain and suffering."

Pure disbelief was clear in Cthulhu's voice. "You... you went through all this for the sake of pain and suffering?"

Ruby had climbed out onto the roof during the banter and now stood beside Cthulhu. "Don't be coy or stupid, Kraken!" she called down mockingly. "You can't afford any of that here."

Kraken looked at her like she was a bug he'd just stepped on. "Why's this crazy girly demon think this has anything to do with her?"

"Because this 'crazy girly demon' died partly because of you!" Ruby shot back. "And believe me when I say that this 'crazy girly demon' is not at all amused!"

"Oh, really?" Kraken laughed. "You'll be no problem! Beating up on girls is a pastime of mine!

Ivan thrust forward. "With a mouth that size, your ass hole must be ten times as big!" he taunted.

"Better tighten it up so you don't leak shit everywhere!" Cthulhu added, his sense of humor returning. The grin on his face clearly infuriated Kraken.

Mocking laughter backed up this proclamation from down inside the house. Shaking with fury, Kraken whistled sharply. Everywhere, gray dogs leapt to their feet, snarling viciously.

The parley had only sped along the process.

Down in the house, Jake gripped a metal baseball bat. "This is it, Boomer," he murmured to his younger brother. "We open the doors, we go out, and we fight."

Lucky, Cthulhu, Ivan, and Ruby came back down. The fox cracked her knuckles in a businesslike manner. "I've been looking forward to this."

Vance nodded at Ivan. grinning. "Nice taunt, by the way, about the tightening up thing."

"That wasn't me, that was Jonathan," Ivan corrected him. "I said the first part about him having a big mouth."

The weasel looked surprised and embarrassed at his mistake. "Um...oh. Sorry."

Needles came by, or perhaps it was Reaper, or a mixture of both at the same time. Her quills were red while the rest of her fur was dark gray, almost black. To everyone's surprise, she had an M-16 in her paws.

The small demon bared her teeth in a sharp-toothed grin. "Talking time is over."

* * *

**Needles/Reaper owns, and she knows it! (gives rock on sign) So... I think most of you caught the blatant movie reference in this chapter, near the end. And ZotzServant99, you might have recognized a GDW quote, too.**

**This may or may not be a kind of late update. My mom restricted me from computer time because I had to finish reading The Count of Monte Christo. I've finished it. Very similar story to Sweeney Todd. (Except the name 'Edmond Dantes' is hella better than 'Sweeney Todd' or 'Benjamin Barker'. Well... on to Profiles in Courage.**

**At your disposal (sort of),**

**Adderstar of ValorClan**


	21. Chapter 21

Following Needles' example, everyone began arming themselves with whatever came to paw. Luckily, Flippy's house had no shortage of weapons. All they had to do was know where to look.

Lucky burst in out of the garage. "Flippy, you never said you had a weasel!"

"What?" Vance looked up. "Yeah you got a weasel, me!"

"No, dummy, I meant gardening weasel!" Lucky held up a wicked-looking long-handled metal gardening weasel. **((For those who don't know what a gardening weasel looks like, look up gardening weasel on google images.))**

"Ooh! Want!" Boomer reached for it. Lucky gave him a look. Boomer realized what was on her mind and scowled. "No way, Mom! I'm not staying in here while you guys go out and run around being heroes!"

"Yeah!" Ari agreed. "We can take care of ourselves!"

Surprisingly, Vance took their side. "You know, Lucky, I think they're right. We need all the help we can get, and if we lose to these demons, it pretty much defeats the purpose of protecting them anyway."

"We're just as involved as all of you are," Jake said, sticking his chin out stubbornly. "You can't make us stay!"

Lucky hesitated for a brief moment before tossing the gardening weasel to her younger son. "Try not to poke your eye out."

Off to the side, Cthulhu and Ivan stood side by side. Cthulhu had his demon-killing knife in one paw and was absently flipping it over and over, so that it turned like the spoke of a wheel.

Ivan glanced at this. "Why're you flipping it like that?"

"Nervous energy. Waiting always gets to me." The demon seemed distracted.

Ivan looked at him. "Is something wrong? I mean, besides the obvious."

"No, no, everything's fine. Besides the obvious, of course."

"Of course." Ivan didn't believe him, but he decided to let the matter slip nonetheless. But on an impulse, he grabbed his brother's arm. "Jonathan. Hey."

His brother looked at him. "What?"

"Y-you'd tell me, wouldn't you?" Ivan said seriously. "If there was something else wrong, you'd tell me, right?"

Cthulhu looked away. "Yeah," he answered dully.

Ivan released him slowly. You didn't have to be a twin to see right through him.

Vance had found a shotgun in Flippy's arsenal. With a grim air, he loaded it. "You know, we can fight our hardest all we want, but when it all comes down to it, there are only two weapons among us that can actually kill these demons."

Impulsively, Cuddles added his own opinion. "Yeah, and one of them belongs to the guy who's most likely to go to the other side."

Ivan looked at his brother, expecting him to start yelling, or at the very least punch the guy. But when Cthulhu spoke, his voice was flat.

"You weren't listening earlier, were you?"

"Listening to what?"

Lucky couldn't resist a sarcastic remark. "Well where were you when we were talking to Kraken? Were you dead at the time?"

"What's the point of listening?" Cuddles snorted. "Nothing important was actually said. I don't see why we had to hold that stupid rooftop conference. It got us nowhere, and it only sped things up."

"Shut up, Cuddles!" Flaky burst out. "Maybe if you'd just shut your big mouth and listen, you might have picked up on a few things!"

"Hell, I wasn't really listening either," Toothy said pointedly.

"Me neither," said Sniffles, who up until this point had not made himself noticed.

There were noises of agreement from several others, except for a few such as Shifty and Lifty, Flaky, Petunia, and Cub, who had actually chosen to pay attention.

"See?" said Cuddles. "It wasn't all that important."

"Cuddles, quit acting like you know all there is to know about me!" Cthulhu snapped angrily. "If you'd just stop making stupid assumptions like these, we wouldn't be having this conversation!"

"Well we are, so get used to it," the bunny muttered.

"Why the hell would I possibly want to even consider switching sides?" Cthulhu carried on. "Just because he's my dad doesn't mean I want anything to do with him! Would you rather I switched sides?"

"In a way, yes," Cuddles replied coolly. "That would put my mind at ease knowing you'd finally chosen which way you want to go."

"I already have!" Cthulhu's hands curled up into fists. "Why is it so hard to understand that! This is my choice!"

"I understand it perfectly," Cuddles said with a shrug. "I just don't believe you."

"Exactly," Toothy supported him. "'Cause people don't change. It's a fact."

Cthulhu blinked. "I know that," he said, meeting their eyes firmly. "In fact, that's the only reason I'm here and not out there on their side."

For the first time, Cuddles looked at a loss for words. Not that Cthulhu had shut him up, but he really didn't understand. He didn't get it. "Uh... would you run that by me again?"

"Right now," Cthulhu said angrily, "what you see here... this isn't a changed me. This _is _me. What you've seen before, it wasn't. It was him." He pointed outside, where Kraken was. "It was what he was trying to turn me into. Look, I'm sorry. I know, it was my fault. But you're right, Cuddles. People don't change. I know that. I almost did change once, for a while I turned into _him_. I know I hurt people. I know how far I went. Hell, I forced my own brother to..." he broke off. "The point is, I am not like him. There is nothing in this world or the next that will make me follow him."

Ivan glanced at Lucky. The cat had found a wrench.

Fortunately, Cuddles said nothing else and instead pointedly turned his back. Ivan tried to restrain himself, and failed.

"Go eat your own crap, ya damn rabbit," he muttered.

"Shut up, you stupid demon!" Cuddles whirled around to glare at Cthulhu.

Mortified that his brother was taking the blame for his ill-chosen remark, Ivan raised a paw. "Uh, actually Cuddles, that was me."

"Whatever," the rabbit snorted, but didn't bother to tell Ivan off for the insult.

Disheartened by Cuddles' stubborn hatred, Ivan sighed and rubbed his eyes wearily. By pure unfortunate coincidence, at that moment he was standing with his back to the window. And only Cthulhu saw the huge airborne pale shape just outside.

"Watch out, Ivan!" In a blur of gray, Cthulhu launched himself at his brother, shoving him out of the way of the huge, monstrous dog that came crashing through the window. The creature's vicious-looking teeth snapped shut around the demon's arm like a steel bear trap. Just seconds before, they would have closed around Ivan's head.

Cthulhu's desperation-fueled momentum had overbalanced Ivan. The latter rolled with the impact, gasping as the wind was knocked right out of him. A few bolder dogs were leaping through the hole in the window that the larger one had made, and Lucky, Vance, and a few others were working hard to drive them out.

Recovering swiftly, Ivan hurtled toward the dog that was still sinking its teeth into Cthulhu's arm. Ivan punched and gouged at the dog's head as Cthulhu clenched his teeth against a scream of pain. Ivan's efforts had somewhat loosened the dog's grip, lessening the blinding pain and allowing the demon to think straight.

Cthulhu struck like a coiled viper, sinking his teeth into its forehead. With a high-pitched whine, the animal released him.

Half-blinded by the pain in his injured arm, Cthulhu stared at the huge creature. A bloody gash had appeared above the dog's eyes, causing it to stagger and collapse. He glanced at his brother; the latter was breathing hard from the effort. The others had managed to either kill or drive off the other dogs.

"You okay?" he managed to say, kneeling by Cthulhu.

The demon rolled up his sleeve, revealing the bleeding bite on his scarred arm. "I'll be fine. You're the one who should be careful, Ivan. Just remember, when we're out there fighting, I won't always be there to shove you out of the way."

"Yeah, I know." Ivan let out a sigh. "Don't scare me like that, man." Flippy tossed him a rag, and carefully he began dabbing at the bite.

**(A/N to the silenced: Please keep all Hitachiin twins-related comments to a minimum.)**

Lucky sighed. "Well, if we're all armed and dangerous, then we'd better get out there and show those demons who's boss. I wish we weren't antagonizing each other like this, though. We should be focused on fighting the enemy, not each other." She glared meaningfully at Cuddles.

But Ivan could tell by the look in Cuddles' eyes that, as far as the rabbit was concerned, he _was_ fighting the enemy.

One by one, everyone began climbing the ladder up to the roof. Sniffles, Toothy, and Disco Bear decided to hang back and make sure no one got into the house who wasn't supposed to get in. In other words, they were chickening out of the fight and were currently boarding up the broken window.

Cthulhu hung back, waiting for everyone else to go up before he followed. Instinctively Ivan joined him at the back, right behind Cuddles. The demon sucked in a long breath before letting it out slowly. "You know something, brother," he said quietly. "Whenever I get into a fight that I expect, there's always point, just before it, where I'm scared crapless. Now more than ever, because of who we're fighting."

"Yeah... me too." Ivan couldn't think of anything else to say. When he saw the tip of Cuddles' scut disappeared up the chimney, he started forward.

Suddenly, Cthulhu reached out and grasped his sleeve. "Wait, Ivan..."

Ivan turned around to look at him. "Yeah?"

"There's been something I've been meaning to talk to you about... but... I've been too afraid to bring it up..."

"What is it?" Despite this small question, Ivan could almost sense what was coming.

"I... I just wanted to ask you something." Cthulhu hesitated. Ivan blinked. Looking at his brother's scarred face now was like looking into the past. He had that pleading look that he always used to have when he wanted to be listened to. He didn't look like Cthulhu anymore. He looked like Jonathan. His brother's words shocked him.

"Do you hate me?"

_What?!_ Even though Ivan had half-expected this, he could barely believe his ears. _What kind of question is that?_ he wanted to say, but didn't. All that came out was, "I... huh?"

"Everything's been happening so fast," his brother continued. "I haven't had time to talk about..."

"Jonathan..."

"I'm sorry!" His eyes looked wet. "I know I put you through hell, and I... Ivan, I killed you. That kind of thing isn't something you can just brush off. So that's my question. Do you hate me? I don't blame you if you do." His eyes clouded over slightly, and he glanced down at his wrist. "I know I have, sometimes."

Ivan was at a loss. "I--I--" Even though he had almost expected this, he was not prepared for it. What could he possibly say? "I... I didn't kill you because I hated you, Jonathan. I didn't even want to kill you. I just wanted to talk to you. But... you know, stuff doesn't always turn out the way you mean it to. I mean... killing you, Jonathan... it was like I was killing part of me, too. I mean, I told you didn't I? I just didn't want you to go on like that. I heard about all the things you did, and I couldn't stand that you were... that you were turning into _him._"

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry for putting you through that. I was just... I was just so _pissed_. I took it out on Ruby, on you, on people I didn't even know." Jonathan looked away, but Ivan caught sight of the tears.

"Jonathan." Ivan's voice was firm. "Jonathan, look at me." He gripped his brothers shoulders. "Jon, do you remember what I told you, right before I... we... died? No, _look at me._" His brother reluctantly met his eyes. Ivan was once again struck by that sense of nostalgia. How many times had they done this when they were kids, encouraging and supporting each other? _I was always there to pick him up when he fell down, like he was for me. Does he feel bad because he forgot that for so long?_

On an impulse, Ivan rushed forward and hugged him firmly, briefly wondering how long it had been since his brother had received such a simple thing like a hug. Despite his best efforts, Ivan could not keep himself from crying.

"I told you before, I can't hate you. I could never hate you. I'm your brother, Jonathan. Nothing either of us does will change that, and nothing you do will make me love you less. How can I hate you? You saved my life, man." A lump formed in his throat, and he forced his next words past it. "I'm sorry, too, Jon. I shouldn't have left you behind."

"No, it's a good thing you did," his brother said. "If you hadn't, who knows? You might've turned out like me."

"Heh, yeah." Wiping his eyes brusquely, Ivan grinned and gave him a punch on the arm. "Let's go, Jonathan. We'll get the bastard, I know it."

"For good, I hope," Cthulhu replied drily. "Promise not to get killed."

He said it carelessly, in a light tone, but something told Ivan that he wasn't completely joking. "Yeah, I promise. Let's go."

"Hey, you three!" Vance's voice echoed down the chimney. "What are you waiting for? Let's move it or lose it!"

Ivan blinked. _Three?_ The bear rushed to the bottom of the ladder and looked up to see Cuddles halfway up, paused in the act of rushing up the ladder. The rabbit froze at the sight of him, his eyes widening.

Their eyes locked. Cuddles opened his mouth to say something, but closed it. Cthulhu joined Ivan, blinking in surprise when he saw the rabbit.

Cthulhu spoke in a low, flat voice. "You saw those scars on my arms, didn't you? You know Kraken's my father, so where do you think I got them?" Looking mortified and ashamed, Cuddles fled up the ladder.

The brothers exchanged glances, each reading the same question in the other's eyes. _Will this change anything?_

Only time would tell. Cthulhu led the way up the ladder and out onto the roof.

"What took you so long?" Ruby asked, without turning to look at them.

"Nothing, just clearing a few things up," Cthulhu replied softly.

"All righty then, Cthulhu."

Winking at Ivan, the demon replied. "I'm not Cthulhu, I'm Ivan!"

"Oh, sorry, Iv--" Ruby turned to face him, only to see that she'd been right the first time. "--Screw you."

"Got ya," Cthulhu teased.

Lucky caught his eye. When the fox's back was turned, the cat winked at him and indicated the fox with a sideways jerk of her head. Cthulhu reddened in response, and she snickered silently before they all turned back to the waiting crowd of demons, non-demons, and dogs.

Tensing readily, Ivan stared down at his father and narrowed his eyes. Next to him, Lucky murmured two words under her breath.

"_It begins._"

* * *

**Cliffie. ****BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHANYARF!**

**Yeah... sorry, I decided to stop here and call it a day (or rather, a week, because it took a while to write this). Anyway...**

**SQUEEEE! THE BROTHERLY LOVE TURNS MY BRAIN TO HAPPY MUSH! (hops up and down) Yes! My plot bunny is good to me! Everybody gets an adorable little puppy-eyes Cthulhu plushie! XD Or at least you would if I had any, and if I actually knew where you lived. But that would be a breach of privacy. TEEHEEHEE!**

**(apologies for hyperness)**

**At least one of my OCs will die within the following chapters. For good.**

**(no hyperness in that last part, eh?)**

**At your disposal (sort of),**

**Adderstar of ValorClan**


	22. Chapter 22

Kraken had been a doctor in his life. Ironic, you say? No, it was perfect if you look at it in the right way. "Yeah, a doctor," Ivan had once told Lucky. "In other words, he knew how to make it hurt, but at the same time inconspicuous. Physically and emotionally, if you catch my drift." Lucky had, and it had made her sick to her stomach.

Now, the demon was deep in discussion with his two unofficial seconds in command, Typhon and Cerberus, while they waited for the other side to get situated.

"I dunno, Kraken," Cerberus was saying. "Ya know Cthulhu's a demon. He'll be a problem any way you look at it."

"Any way _you_ look at it, maybe," Kraken retorted scornfully. "He's a demon, and we can use that to our advantage."

Typhon, who was no mental giant, scratched his head. "Er... how?"

With a disdainful tone, Kraken outlined his plan. "You know how demons are," he said. "They're capable of violent rage. Eyes go all black and they just kill everything in sight. All you have to do is work him up in a rage and, shall we say, point him in the right direction."

"Oh! Do we point him in the direction of his friends?" Typhon asked.

"No, idiot, we point him in the direction of the nearest Starbucks!"

"Er... Why would we do that?" the guinea pig asked, bewildered. As stated before, he was no mental giant.

Kraken stared at him. "Why do I keep you around? That was sarcasm!"

"Sar-what-m?"

Satisfied that at least Cerberus had gotten the point, Kraken rolled his eyes. "Never mind. Just... Cerberus, you take it, alright?"

"Got it," Cerberus said with a grin. "If we piss him off enough and give him a shove in the right direction, he'll be slaughtering his own friends without even knowing it. Maybe he'll even kill his own stupid brother!"

"I hope not," Kraken said, smiling maliciously. "I missed nine years beating the pulp out of that weepy little brat."

"Couldn't we do the same thing to Ruby or that Reaper kid?" Cerberus inquired.

"No," Kraken said, shaking his head vigorously. "Ruby's barely a demon at all. Now she's more human than anything else. And Reaper has another mind to keep her in check. No, Cthulhu should be enough. And when it wears off and he's in despair, I'll go in and finish him off. Slowly, of course."

The demon rabbit's mouth twisted into a crooked grin. "How should I trigger him, then?"

"Use your imagination," Kraken replied indifferently. "He's got a soft spot for children, doesn't he?"

Cerberus glanced up at their enemies, who looked ready to jump from the roof and attack at the drop of a hat. "I'm on it, Kraken."

"If that doesn't work, I have my own little plan," Kraken told him. "In fact, why don't we do mine first? I'll need you and Typhon to pitch in."

Typhon was still struggling. "But what was that about Starbucks?"

* * *

"What are we waiting for?" Cthulhu murmured restlessly. "Lucky's taking an awful long time to signal."

"Maybe a certain moment," Ivan replied in a low voice. "You know, waiting for just the right time to jump and attack."

"I just hope Kraken doesn't start on another annoying gloat-rant," Jake muttered. "Are you okay, there, Itch?"

"F-f-fine," the bearcupine replied, but his stammering had little to do with fear. "I-I'm t-t-trying to g-get a g-g-grip, th-though." He swallowed hard. "N-No m-matter what hap-happens, I am n-not going t-to l-let Kr-Kraken hear me st-stut-stutter."

Cthulhu stared out into the crowd of animals he recognized as demons. Even with life, he was still, in a loose way, one of them. He would always be a demon; nothing could change that. Ivan would never be a normal living creature, either, but Cthulhu had it worse off. He was still struggling to shake off the parts of himself that were still Cthulhu. Even now, part of him was itching to leap down off the roof and slaughter everything in sight. No, no matter what happened, he couldn't let that get away with him. Now more than ever he understood how Flippy felt having to hold him back, and he realized the impressive mental strength it took to do so. Nervously he ran his tongue carefully over his jagged teeth. The side of him that was a demon through and through could almost taste the blood. Or maybe he'd just cut his tongue on a fang. He couldn't tell the difference.

Ivan nudged him, smiling weakly. "Hey, you okay?"

"Do I look okay to you?" A tremor ran through Cthulhu's entire frame. "I'm trying to hold back the part of me that wants to jump down and attack everything in sight. I just hope I can control myself. It's gonna get ugly, all right."

"You'll be fine, Jonathan," Ivan assured him.

Unconvinced, Cthulhu turned away and moved through the crowd of animals on the roof until he found who he was looking for. "Hey, Ruby."

The fox looked up questioningly. "Yes? What is it?"

Why was his throat tightening? It made it so hard to talk. "Can I ask you to do something for me?" He hoped she wouldn't make this even more difficult than it already was.

Seeing his unease, Ruby narrowed her eyes cautiously. "Depends on what it is."

"Well, I'm still a demon monster with little or no control over myself, so..." Cthulhu glanced down at the dagger she was holding. "Ruby, you're the only one who has the necessary weapon, so if I lose control and start killing people on our side, just... please don't hesitate like you did thirteen years ago." It seemed like it had been centuries since the incident with the sewer rats.

Ruby looked taken aback by his request. "I... but..."

"Please."

He said it with such conviction that the fox found it hard to say no. But it was even harder to say yes. "A-alright. B-but are you sure?"

"I'm positive. Promise me, please, Ruby."

The fox nodded dumbly.

"Thank you." The demon made his way back to stand by his brother.

Neither Ruby nor Cthulhu had seen that Cuddles had heard the entire exchange. The rabbit stared after Cthulhu with wide eyes. Memories played in his mind, of every single death that had been caused by Cthulhu. He'd lost count of how many times he'd been killed by the demon. That was something that was hard to forgive. And yet, the rabbit could not possibly deny what he'd heard between Ivan and Cthulhu, and what he'd just heard.

_"If I lose control and start killing people on our side, just... please don't hesitate like you did thirteen years ago." That's a selfless thing to say, for anyone._ Cuddles looked at Ruby oddly. Clearly this was weighing heavily on her mind. The rabbit turned his head and looked to Lucky. Now that he thought of it, the cat had been hinting about it for a while. Years, in fact. She had been the first one to try taking his side. She was a smart cat, rarely wrong about this kind of thing. Cuddles glanced at Flippy. The bear was probably the one who should hate Cthulhu the most. And yet he had defended the demon just as vehemently as that other bear, Ivan. And Ivan! Cuddles had expected him to be more like Cthulhu, but once again he'd been wrong. And even Vance was taking their side. Clearly there was something Cuddles had been in the dark about. And now it was all so clear now. The rabbit shuddered. Why hadn't he seen it? Geez, even he'd probably be evil if he'd had a father like Kraken.

And yet the rabbit still couldn't shake off the bitter resentment he'd always held toward Cthulhu. Was that so wrong? Maybe, maybe not.

He had no more time for thoughts, for at that moment, Lucky let out a high-pitched cat scream, and everyone leapt down from the roof into the crowd of waiting dogs and demons.

* * *

At the last moment, Flippy and Teddy had decided to help hold down the fort. At least, they'd decided to stay up on the roof and snipe from there. Teddy was cocking his choice from the arsenal of weaponry in Flippy's house while his brother loaded a rifle. The older bear listened as the sounds of battle outside rose in a crescendo before speaking. "Theodore."

Surprised by Flippy's use of his full name, Teddy looked up. "Yeah, Flip?"

Flippy looked at him solemnly. "That's my wife and children out there." He cocked his weapon. "Make me proud."

Teddy nodded, once. It was all he needed.

"Sniffles, you're insane." Disco Bear followed the anteater up the ladder. Sniffles was carrying a sniper rifle with him as he cautiously peered out over the rim of the chimney. Disco Bear struggled up to join him, but couldn't poke his head out without risking being seen. For obvious reasons.

"Disco, your dang hair!" Sniffles hissed, adjusting his glasses on the bridge of his long snout. Producing an electric razor from his pocket (and dislodging his pens in the process), the anteater shaved off the top of Disco's overlarge hairdo. The latter might have screamed, had not Sniffles covered his mouth. "Shush!"

"Dude, you've only just learned how to fire that thing!" Disco Bear murmured, still feeling extremely pissed about the loss of his beloved afro. "And was the shaving thing really necessary?"

"Yes," Sniffles replied flatly. "You look like a warped cross between Steve Hyde and Winnie the Pooh! And believe me when I say that that is not a good combination!"

"Well... _you're_ not a good combination," Disco Bear retorted lamely, under his breath so no one would hear his completely idiotic comeback. "But how are you supposed to fire it right when you're a nerd, man? I bet you won't hit anything."

Sniffles pointedly ignored him, resolving instead to wet his thumb and stick it into the air like Ford Prefect hitchhiking. The anteater muttered to himself. "Let's see... wind is roughly twelve miles per hour, twenty degrees north and west... about two ml water vapor per square inch in the air... wet morning, yes..." He fiddled with a protractor. "Hmm, make that twenty two point eight degrees north and west... And that would mean..." Taking the sniper rifle, he took swift aim and fired.

_ARF!_ A small puppy took a sniper bullet between the eyes, and the bullet exited out the back of the skull to catch a non-demon full in the chest. Grinning smugly, Sniffles reloaded his weapon.

"Best two out of three," Disco Bear insisted.

* * *

Ivan was doing his best to stay by his brother, but their ferocious enemies were making this increasingly difficult. Shooting his way through a crowd of puppies, Ivan looked around to find that his brother was nowhere in sight.

"Damn it! Jonathan!" It was no use; the demon was nowhere in sight. "Crap!"

Then he ducked as a brown rabbit and an orange, black, and white guinea pig lunged at him. He recognized them as his brother's two least favorite demons, Cerberus and Typhon. Fighting two at the same time was not easy at all. Watching Cerberus from the corner of his eyes, Ivan lashed out at Cerberus before turning swiftly to fend off an attack from Typhon. Cerberus launched himself sideways and caught Ivan with a powerful double kick to the stomach, driving the wind out of him. Barely daunted, Ivan bore down on the rabbit and managed to knock him to the ground. Unfortunately, in doing so he turned his attention fully on only one of his opponents, leaving Typhon free to knock him out from behind. His last thought was one that would have made a demon cover his ears if he'd voiced it out loud. So, it was a good thing it was only a thought.

* * *

Ivan came to slowly, about five minutes later, to find himself somewhere beyond but near the raging battle, and being held by four demons at the same time: Cerberus, Typhon, Scylla, and Baital. But he hardly noticed them; his eyes were only for the demon right in front of him. Ivan felt his heart plummet in his chest.

"Hello, Dad."

Kraken spat to the side. "I've been waiting too long to do this, boy." He flexed one paw, causing his knuckles to crack loudly.

Ivan's voice was low and clear. "I guess your four lackeys won't be moving away anytime soon, then? You coward."

Without warning, Kraken punched him hard in the face. Blood dribbled from Ivan's bloodied nose, but he kept his gaze trained on his father's golden brown eyes and said nothing more.

"You ran off at age ten, didn't you?" Kraken mused aloud "Your beloved brother killed me four years later. That's four years I missed of beating the crap out of you." He glanced off to the side, where the sounds of fighting could be heard loud and clear. "But what with this battle going on and everything, we only have... what, ten minutes? Very little time to make up for four years." A sadistic grin lit up his face. "But I'm sure we can manage, don't you think?" He struck him again, this time in the side of the head.

The force of the blow had driven Ivan's head to one side, but slowly he turned his face forward again and continued glaring at his father. His teeth ground together as he forced words between them. "Fight me, you bastard."

Kraken looked thoughtful. "Mm... no, I don't think I will."

"I know what you're trying to do," Ivan snarled quietly. "You're trying to break him, aren't you? Trying to break him by hurting people he loves, like you did with Mom." Another two punches from Kraken blackened his eye and split his lip, but he continued glaring, refusing to be daunted. "It won't work again, Dad." With his blue eyes glittering vengefully and blood running down his face, he looked even more vicious. "I won't let it."

"That's out of your paws, sonny." The friendly smile on his face was made even more frightening when coupled with the icy gleam in his eyes. "But in any case, there's only one way to find out." His next punch was low to the stomach, making his defiant victim double up. "I'm going to enjoy this.

Unnoticed by any of them, Echidna was watching silently from a short distance, her eyes narrowed in disgust.

* * *

**(imitates Achmed the Dead Terrorist) That was dark, was it not?**

**As for Echidna... she is neither good nor bad. In a sense, she's a gray character. Yeah... she hates Kraken with a passion and does not fear him in any way, but does what he says anyway. And no, Echidna/Kraken will NOT be coming up at any time in this fic. Just a heads-up to any of you wide-ranging-sick-minded people reading this fic. That's all.**

**And yes, Typhon is a complete moron and will remain a complete moron until the end of this fic or until I kill him off (whichever comes first).**

**OMG! by the way, I FINALLY finished reading Profiles in Courage! It was the single most enlightening book I've ever read, as well as the single most boring book I've ever read! Except the chapter on Robert Taft. Sorry, am I rambling? I do that sometimes.**

**At your disposal (sort of)**

**Adderstar of ValorClan**


	23. Chapter 23

Cthulhu was fighting two battles at the same time. While fending off attacks from everyone around him who was trying to kill him, he was struggling to suppress the killer instincts that were threatening to take hold. But a single sane thought managed to slice through the turmoil in his brain. _Where's Ivan?_

The demon zeroed in on that thought without even fully paying attention to exactly what it meant, but using it to focus on something other than the almost unstoppable bloodlust. He killed dogs, demons, and non-demons without favoritism, until the enormity of his one clear though struck him, and a torrent of questions bombarded his mind.

_Where's Ivan?_

_Did I leave him behind somewhere?_

_How'd we get separated?_

_Is this exactly the right time to be worrying about this?_

There was a certain tightness in the pit of his stomach, filling him with dread. It was familiar, too. It was the feeling he'd always had when they were kids, the connection he and Ivan, as twins, had shared.

But, with battle noise full in his ears and the reddish mist hovering threateningly around his eyes, it was hard to think straight, let alone think of what to do. Hacking and slashing his way through the crowds of enemies, he found himself at the edge of the battle.

Someone crashed into his back. Cthulhu whirled, knife held at the ready, only to find Lucky there, dragging her claws down a demon beaver's face. Flashing forward, Cthulhu swung his weapon and finished the beaver off.

"Thank you," Lucky managed to say, out of breath. "These demons just don't quit, do they?"

Cthulhu leered ferociously at a dog that looked ready to spring, actually terrifying it out of its berserk state and sending it fleeing for the bushes. With quick blue eyes, he surveyed the area. "No, I'll say they--"

His breath caught in his throat as he stared over Lucky's shoulder in horror. Seeing the look on his face, the cat whirled around as well. Cthulhu shoved past her.

"Ivan!" His brother was sprawled on his stomach, half-conscious and seemingly heedless of the battle as he crawled along laboriously. Blood caked on his face, bruises covered his face, and his right foot dragged uselessly behind him.

Staring up at him through eyes swollen half-shut, Ivan managed to croak out, "Little help?"

Cthulhu knelt down by him, trembling with rage and fear. "Ivan, who...?" One look in his brother's eyes provided the answer, and he almost went berserk right then and there.

A low snarl built up in Cthulhu's throat, and his vision darkened with fury. "That _bastard!_" his voice came out as a short bark. "I'll--"

"Dude, Jonathan." Ivan reached out and grasped the front of his sweatshirt. "Calm down. This is what he wants, remember? You have to calm down. I'm not dead."

Cthulhu shook his head to clear it, and the former demonic rage was replaced by sudden terror. "Ivan, I can't do this. You're way stronger than me, we both know that, and the only way for me to beat him is to let myself go berserk, and I can't do that or else that means he wins!"

"Jonathan." Ivan's voice was low and calm. "You have to calm down. Look, you're not the one idiotic enough to get the crap kicked out of him, I am! You can do this!"

"He can't fight anymore!" At that moment, Lucky's voice made the most sense out of everything going on in Cthulhu's perspective. The black cat stood over them, claws bared to fend off any attack. "He has to get back to the house, now! Sniffles is a doctor, that's part of the reason why he stayed behind! Oh crap, VANCE!" Seeing the weasel in difficulties farther off, Lucky dashed away and threw herself back into the thick of the fighting.

Cthulhu stared around frantically until he saw the only person on his side who was close enough to answer a call for help. His heart sank when he saw who it was. Would he even listen, or would he flat-out refuse? Only one way to find out.

"Cuddles!"

The rabbit looked up, surprised. He was bleeding from a wound in his side and heading doggedly for the house.

Ivan was on the verge of passing out from pain in his leg. Cthulhu stared at Cuddles pleadingly. "Help me!" He didn't know what the rabbit would do.

After a split second of indecision, Cuddles rapidly limped over.

"Can you help my brother back to the house?" Cthulhu asked, trying not to sound too pleading. "I have to find Kraken!" Cuddles blinked.

"O-okay." Cuddles swallowed before speaking more surely. "I was just going there myself. I'll take him."

"Thank you." Cthulhu was surprised. Earlier, the rabbit had acted like he wanted to kill him.

Cuddles nodded, grasping the back of Ivan's red jacket. He opened his mouth to speak, then closed it before trying again. "H-he's lucky, you know," said the rabbit, nodding to Ivan.

"What?"

"He's lucky... to have a brother who cares about him," Cuddles said haltingly, as if he could barely bring himself to say it. Then, without another word, he hoisted Ivan up until the injured bear stood on one foot, and began helping him toward safety as fast as Ivan could go.

**(A/N to the silenced: AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!)**

Cthulhu stared after him. Clearly Cuddles had been feeling remorseful. That was probably as much of an apology as he'd get out of the rabbit. Hopefully the rabbit would make less complaints now.

The demon turned to the spot on the ground where his brother had been. Ivan had left a clear trail, hopefully leading back to Kraken. From what Cthulhu could see, Ivan had been crawling along the edge of the battle looking for him. Skirting the battling creatures and demons, Cthulhu followed the blood drops and scraped up ground until they led away from the fighting.

It wasn't long before he spotted the familiar orange, black, and white pattern of guinea pig fur through the thick underbrush. Typhon. Keeping silent, Cthulhu crept up closer. Cerberus was there, too, and with a jolt he saw that between them they held another, smaller prisoner. Blood covered the hapless creature's fur, and it was a moment before Cthulhu recognized Jake.

The instinctive protectiveness toward his friend's children flared up then. "No!" As he sprang forward, he was immediately set upon by a group of seven gray dogs. Clawing frantically, Cthulhu strove toward the two demons. But even if he could've gotten free, the dog attack had knocked his dagger out of reach.

Jake was struggling, but Typhon held him tightly by the scruff of his neck. "Cthulhu's no fun," the guinea pig complained, stifling a yawn. "No matter how hard you hit him, he never does anything. It's infuriating. The reaction is everything, but he never gives us one."

Cerberus held a handgun in one paw. Almost lazily, he pointed it at Jake's leg and pulled the trigger. The cat-weasel screamed, and Cthulhu winced as though he could feel the pain himself. "Let him go, you bastards!"

A twisted grin lit up Cerberus's face. "Hey, Typhe, look at his face, look at his face! Would you call that a reaction?"

Typhon smirked. "More of a reaction than you get when _he_ hurts. Do it again, Cerb."

This time, instead of shooting Jake, Cerberus held the gun by the barrel and whacked him solidly in the face with the butt. Blood and saliva spewed from Jake's mouth, and the now half-conscious cat-weasel slumped in Typhon's grip, spitting out a broken tooth.

Cthulhu tried to tear his eyes away, unable to do anything wsith seven dogs piled on top of him. Slowly, tears began to leak out of his eyes.

"Well, lookee there!" Typhon gasped delightedly. "The little wuss is crying! Hit the little freak again."

"I'm not a freak!" Jake snarled. "Let go of me!"

"Gladly."

Cthulhu scrabbled feebly at the ground, but the dogs were holding on to him too tightly. Then it hit him. The dogs gripped him tightly, even painfully, but did not try to tear or break skin. They weren't attacking him; they were holding him down.

_They planned this. They want me to feel helpless! They're trying to get me pissed off. They're trying to get me to go berserk!_ His realization of their intentions infuriated him, and he thrashed harder. How _dare_ they!

With an arrogant smile, Cerberus aimed again and fired. Jake staggered, and blood spattered the ground beneath his feet.

Then something in Cthulhu's brain snapped. It had nothing to do with Cthulhu being more enraged at Jake's pain than at Ivan's. But in this case, Ivan was not there to calm him down.

There was an explosion of blue flames, and the seven dogs holding him down were flung against the trees, charred, blackened, and dead. Cthulhu was on his paws and knees, his eyes black with demon rage.

"That's it, Cthulhu," Cerberus sniggered. "You wanna kill me, doncha? Well why don't you? I'll even drop my gun, not that it'd do any good against you."

"C'mon, Cthulhu, what're you waiting for?" Typhon taunted.

Cthulhu almost obliged. But then...

_No._

That was not a Cthulhu thought. It was a Jonathan thought: calm, quiet courage despite immense terror. Cthulhu closed his darkened eyes, concentrating on his inner turmoil.

_No. This is what they want. This gives them power. I can't fight them as long as there is Cthulhu in me. I can't just resist the rage anymore; I can't just suppress it. I have to defeat it. I have to get rid of it._

_That's idiotic and wimpy, _his demon side, his Cthulhu side, snorted silently. _I can't win without rage. Victory is impossible without rage._

_No it isn't. Victory is impossible with rage. Rage solves nothing. Nothing. NOTHING! I reject it. I'll have no more of it. It is no longer a part of me._

_I want it gone. As far as I'm concerned, it is gone. I don't need others to help me resist it. I can do it myself. I can beat it. I can. I'm not Cthulhu. I should never have been Cthulhu. Never. Never._

There were no more traitorous thoughts from the side of him that made him Cthulhu. There was nothing from that side. In fact, there was no more "that side".

His paw crept to one side and curled around the handle of his knife.

A different bear opened his blue eyes wide, brighter and clearer than they had been since his early childhood. He sprang forward and struck like an adder, driving the demon-slaying knife blade-deep into Typhon's chest while yelling defiance into the dying demon's face.

"MY NAME IS JONATHAN!"

* * *

Lilia watched the scene, clasping her amber pendant between both paws. It had been a gift from brother Jonathan and Ivan, when they were so young. She pressed it against her mouth and wept for joy and sorrow at what she was watching. The words to a song she had heard once during her lifetime came back to her, and she whispered them under her breath as Shadow looked on with a small, sad smile on his face.

"_Blessed is he who resists temptation, for he shall receive the crown of life._"

* * *

Jonathan retrieved his knife, momentarily giving chase to Cerberus before slowing to a halt. There would be time enough to kill the demon rabbit. But now he'd won. At last, the rage that had nagged him and worried him at the back of his mind was gone. He was free.

What should have been the most jubilant moment of his second chance at life turned out to be one of the most devastating.

Jake, Lucky's oldest son, lay on his side, curled around the last bullet wound Cerberus had inflicted on him. The demon had shot him full in the chest from inches away. If the cat-weasel had been wearing a Kevlar vest, it wouldn't have helped.

With a gasp, Jonathan rushed to his side and knelt by him. Jake was still alive, but barely. As gently as he could, Jonathan slipped a paw behind his head to cushion it from the hard ground. The young cat-weasel's amber eyes were glassy and unfocused when he looked up at him. Tears brimmed in them, and Jonathan could see fear in them, as well.

Jonathan was immediately reminded that Jake was still only a child. His heart sank; Jake hadn't even finished aging yet. If he died now, he wasn't coming back.

Jake was clearly trying to look brave, but a simple, frightened question slipped out. "Does dying hurt?"

Jonathan shook his head. "No," he replied. "It's no different from going to sleep."

"This h-hurts a lot," Jake said quietly. His headstrong, hot-tempered nature was nowhere to be seen.

There was a painful lump in Jonathan's throat, and tears stung in his eyes. When he squeezed his eyes shut, they came loose ran down his face, creating rivulets that traced from the corners of his eyes to his lower jaw. "It-it won't long," was all he could say. "Th-this is all you'll feel."

Jake seemed to nod slightly. "Okay." His eyes, amber like his father's, clouded over and closed, and the breath left his mouth with a quiet sigh.

Pain tore at Jonathan's chest like claws, and a single thought crossed his mind.

_After everything Lucky did for me... I couldn't even protect her son?_

A dog's snarl cut into his thoughts, and he turned his head to see another small pack of canines approaching, their bellies low to the ground. Slowly, Jonathan stood and turned around to face them, his knife held tightly in one paw. There was no trace of demon rage in his wet blue eyes.

Nor was there any trace of mercy.

* * *

**Well, the silenced, how do you like that? Two animes referenced in one chapter! Of course, you have an HTF fic entirely devoted to one anime, so I guess there's no contest in there, eh, 'nii-san'?**

**AAAAAAUUUUUGGGGHHH I KILLED OFF JAKE! Yes, that was the OC I was going to kill off. Apologies to Light Riku. I know you said you didn't want a kid to die, but... (shrugs sadly)**

**(glances off to the side, where a ghost-Jake is kicking the crap out of a ghost-Typhon) Hoho, yes, Jake, kick him again. Yeeheehee!**

**And yes, Cthulhu will be referred to as Jonathan from now on. He's still a demon in the loosest sense of the word (in that he has cool sharp teeth and only demon-slaying weapons can kill him), but he no longer has that whole eye-turns-black-and-he-kills-everything-that-moves rage thing.**

**In the next chapter (which, hopefully, will be a bit longer), WHAT WILL LUCKY'S REACTION BE??**

**Warning to all "freeloaders" as my brother calls them, I know there are people out there who are reading without reviewing!! (glares suspiciously at ZotzServant99) Just kidding, ZS. But please, if you have it, take the time to comment. I always like to know how I'm doing on this sort of thing, you know, whether I suck or not. It would be a small courtesy on the part of you readers! Thank you!**

**At your disposal (sort of),**

**Adderstar of ValorClan**


	24. Chapter 24

Lucky swung wildly with unsheathed claws, scoring her talons over her opponents face. This threw the creature off balance, and she raised a dripping paw to slash at him again.

Suddenly, she felt a strange tingling sensation on the left side of her face, where her scar was. The tingling momentarily became painful, and she stiffened. The squirrel at her feet took the opportunity to flee.

The feeling left, and she blinked in confusion. What just happened? Looking around, the black cat blinked again. Where had the demon gone?

Petunia flashed past her with a bandage on her side, pursuing a bleeding badger into the bushes. "Hey Petunia, have you seen Cthulhu?"

The skunk gestured off in a different direction as she continued chasing the badger out. "He went that way! I saw a couple minutes ago!"

Some sixth sense told Lucky that she needed to find him. She didn't know why, but something made her turn away from the battle and dash off through the woods with a flick of her tail.

Before long, her keen eyes glimpsed his pale gray fur just ahead. Bursting through the bushes, she crouched by him. Several dogs lay dead around him, and blood spattered the ground, the trees, and his fur. The demon was on his knees, hunched forward with his eyes wide and glued to the ground. "Damn, Cthulhu, what happened?"

Instead of answering, he raised one blood-soaked paw and pointed forward. Following his pointing finger, Lucky blinked. Lying curled up on the ground was a what she at first took to be a dog, but under the thickly caked blood that covered it, she glimpsed black-spotted brown fur. "No... _no... NO!"_

Lucky's insides turned to ice as she dashed forward, screaming. "_JAAAKE!_"

* * *

The chilling wail tore harshly from Lucky's throat, grating in Jonathan's ears. He's killed many people, and most of them had had the time to cry out before dying. But the scream that rent the air at that moment was the single most horrible sound he ever hoped to hear in his entire existence. A sob wracked his body as he slowly raised his head to see that Lucky had collapsed at her son's side. The cat picked him up and held him close, heedless of the blood that was staining her fur as she rocked him back and forth.

Jonathan's voice trembled, and tears forced their way past his closed eyelids to land on the ground. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!" he sobbed. "I tried to save him, I swear, I tried so hard..." His tearful babbling was cut off when Lucky hoisted him to his feet by his sweatshirt front.

"Who?"

Jonathan opened his eyes to see Lucky staring at him intensely. There was something off about her face, and not just the wrathful glare in her reddening eyes. In a low, dangerous voice, she repeated her question. "Who?" Something in her tone dared him to lie. Swallowing hard, Jonathan answered her clearly.

"It was Cerberus and Typhon, but I killed Typhon already. Didn't matter much, though. All Typhon did was hold him still."

Lucky released him and turned back to her son's body. A tremor ran through her, and tears splashed to the ground at her feet. Unsure of what else to do, Jonathan hesitantly reached forward and placed his paw on her shoulder.

"It's not your fault," Lucky told him quietly. "You did what you could... Jonathan." She turned her head, and Jonathan realized what he had noticed about her face.

"Lucky, your scar's gone."

It was true; the mark on her face, so similar to the one Jonathan had, had vanished. Lucky ran a paw over he now unmarked face, shrugging. "We'll have plenty of time to ponder that later." Her eyes were now fully the color of blood. "Don't blame yourself. You did what you had to do. Now it's time for me to do what I gotta do." She fixed him with _that look _again, the glare she had given him back in the asylum as he'd led Spiker and Ari to safety, the look that said, _If you refuse or fail, I will personally see you tarred, feathered, flayed, drawn, and quartered_. "Take him back to the house," she said quietly. "Vance and Boomer already there, holding off the dogs. Promise me you'll see that my son gets there."

Jonathan nodded, and Lucky turned to leave. "Wait, Lucky--" She turned back to him, and he tossed her his knife. "--you'll need this more than I will right now."

Lucky caught it with a nod of thanks before dashing off. Picking up Jake's limp form, Jonathan turned and ran off in a different direction, his teeth bared. Nothing would stop him from completing his task.

A wild, enraged howl reached his ears. Glancing toward the battle, he glimpsed the black cat tearing through the ranks with claws and dagger. Any enemy unlucky or stupid enough to get in her way had not long to live.

* * *

Flippy had resolved to open the windows a crack, just wide enough to position and aim a gun out. Reaper operated the machine gun with her jaw set grimly, massacring dogs and non-demons, and at least keeping the demons at bay if not killing them.

After momentarily abandoning his sniper post, Sniffles was tending to both Vance and Ivan at the same time. Cuddles, who had originally stopped by only to briefly drop off Ivan, had decided to stay behind man one of the windows.

A pad of gauze was fastened over the left side of Ivan's face with medical tape, and Sniffles was checking the bear's injured foot. "Well, it's not broken. It's just dislocated."

Ivan managed a weak smile. "Is that a good thing?"

"Depends on how you look at it," the anteater replied. "Me being the doctor and only caring about seriousness, I say it's better. As for you, the one who doesn't care about anything but pain... well. It's easier to fix, though."

"...'Kay."

"On five then," Sniffles said. "One, two--" _Crack_.

"HOLY MOTHERFU--" Ivan roared. "You said five!"

"So?"

Ivan glared at him. "You enjoyed that, didn't you?"

"I'm a nerd," Sniffles said. "I need fun sometimes. I can't be all bookworm." He turned back to the bone he'd just reset. "As for your leg, it would be just fine if you had time to give it a rest, but I doubt you do. Best case scenario, you limp for the rest of your life."

Ivan blinked, but he could have been winking, because his other eye was covered by the gauze pad. "Ya know, I just got turned into a true twin by a idiot with a knife," he said, tapping the bandage. "Jonathan'll flip when he finds out."

"And now nobody will ever be able to tell you apart," Flippy commented drily. "Damn, I got used to you two looking different."

"Lucky's got a scar like that too," Reaper said as she continued mowing down enemies. "Now you can join the scar club. Maybe they have T-shirts."

Boomer snickered from the other window, where he was pointing a .22 and firing with surprising accuracy. "Now we got two sets of identical twins: Shifty and Lifty, and Ivan and--"

"Shifty and Lifty aren't twins," Sniffles corrected. "They're quintuplets, remember?

"Spiker and Splash are twins, too," Ivan said.

"Fraternally, yes," Flippy said. "But they're not identical twins. There's a difference."

"Oh yes," Sniffles agreed. "With identical twins--"

"Sniffles, save the scientific explanation for later," Vance broke in. "The difference between fraternal and identical twins is the least of our worries right now, don't you think?"

Boomer pulled in the .22 and shut the window, sitting down for a quick breather.

There was a rapid knocking at the door. "Lemme in," a familiar voice called. "Quick, open the door, I can't hold off the dogs forever!"

"Jonathan! Take the roof, you idiot!" Ivan yelled back.

"I can't!"

"Well why not?!"

"JUST OPEN THE DAMN DOOR!"

Boomer darted across the room and opened the door. He was immediately flung backwards, and the door slammed just quickly enough to decapitate a brown and white dog. The severed head rolled a few feet across the floor, but no one paid it attention. All their eyes were on who had just come through the door.

The demon slumped backwards against the door, his head hanging in weariness. Clutched tightly in his paws was Jake's body. One of the three slash scars on his face had reopened, and it was oozing blood sluggishly. Slowly, the demon laid Jake on the floor.

Vance was staring in openmouthed horror, and everyone else seemed petrified with shock.

A heartrending cry, like that of a dying animal, escaped from Boomer's mouth. Vance reached out and held him closely, keeping him from running to his dead brother. The young cat-weasel's body was racked by sobs.

"No! No! Not Jake! Anyone but Jake!" Boomer's voice trembled. "Say he isn't dead, please!"

Vance stepped forward. "Cthulhu..."

"No." He raised his head, his blue eyes bright with tears. "Not Cthulhu. 'Cthulhu' is gone. It's Jonathan now." He paused, glancing down at Jake's body. "I didn't do this, if that's what your wondering. I tried to stop them, I swear. But..."

"Did you do everything you could?"

"Yes," Jonathan replied truthfully.

The weasel gripped his shoulder. "Thank you."

Jonathan headed for the fireplace, where the ladder was still positioned up the chimney. "I have to go. I have to find Kraken as soon as possible. He's the only one controlling these idiots and keeping them together. If he's not stopped, more people will die." With that said, Jonathan scaled the ladder determinedly. There was a small thump that indicated his landing on the roof.

Despite his injured foot, Ivan got to his feet. "Bastard!" he yelled, limping rapidly to the base of the ladder. "You idiot, you're gonna just leave me here and go off to fight and get yourself killed?! NOT ON MY WATCH, MISTER!"

Cuddles reloaded his gun with an odd look on his face. "You know something," he said thoughtfully. "If they dressed the exact same way now, I wouldn't for the life of me be able to tell them apart. And... not just because of looks, either."

Remembering how unwilling Cuddles had been to accept the demon, Vance looked at him cynically as he gently laid his son's body in a corner. "Why? Because you think Ivan's just as bad as Cthu-- I mean, Jonathan?"

"No," answered the rabbit with a shake of his head. "Because Jonathan's just as good as Ivan."

* * *

Jonathan peered over the edge of the roof. Lucky's furious battle screaming still rang in the air, and there were times when he thought he could see demons and dogs actually fly through the air.

A flash of brown fur caught his eye, and without thinking he dropped down from the roof toward it. Just as the creature ran by, he landed next to it. Jonathan's paw shot out, and in a split second he held Cerberus by the scruff of the neck.

"Got you," Jonathan snarled.

The demon-rabbit hadn't actually noticed that he'd been caught and was literally running in place, kicking up dirt and grass in his desperation to escape. When he finally saw who was holding him, he let out a fearful whimper.

"Augh! Don't kill me, I swear it wasn't my idea, Kraken told me to do it! I was only following orders! I mean, you know Kraken, don't you? Don't you?" Cerberus stared up at him beseechingly.

The demon rabbit's cowardly excuses disgusted Jonathan. "Yeah, I know you were just following orders," he gritted out. Cerberus relaxed, only to yelp again when Jonathan's grip tightened. "But you enjoyed it, didn't you? Didn't you?!"

Cerberus flinched. A whimpering shell of his former arrogant, bloodthirsty self, he trembled at the merciless look in Jonathan's eyes. A single word slipped out.

"M-mercy!"

"You... you want mercy?" Jonathan said, barely able to hold back his rage. "You happily tortured and killed a thirteen-year-old kid five minutes ago, and you have the nerve to ask for mercy?" He reigned in his anger stubbornly, forcing a smile at his longtime enemy. "But I suppose I can give you mercy, Cerberus."

"R-really?"

"I'm not going to kill you," Jonathan told him, watching as a path of vengeful destruction neared them. "But maybe she will." With that, he flung the murderous demon straight into Lucky's path, and the red-eyed cat pounced. Cerberus screamed once. Just once.

Jonathan rushed over when he did not see Lucky emerge from the crowd. When he reached her, the scene before him burned itself into his memory.

Cerberus lay motionless, barely recognizable beneath the blood that was still welling up from his wounds. His eyes were wide and staring in death, and his head was at an odd angle. A closer examination revealed the reason: his neck was sliced a third of the way through. Horrific wounds and claw marks covered his corpse, and Lucky was on her paws and knees, still grasping the dagger she had driven into his chest. The cat had literally torn him apart before killing him.

It seemed Cerberus had failed to take Kraken's advice, and Lucky had been right. There was one creature more vicious than a mother who sees her children in danger: a mother who has seen her child killed. Because a mother is more dangerous when she has less to lose.

Lucky's eyes had returned to their normal emerald green color, and she was sobbing unshamedly as Jonathan helped her up. She had picked up some ugly injuries during her rampage, and could barely get up by herself for fatigue.

"Feel better?" Jonathan asked ruefully.

"No, I don't!" Lucky's fur was spiky with blood (and not all of it was her own), and her tears were cutting paths through the dried blood on her face. "I just lost my head and started taking out my anger on everything that moved. Thank God I could still distinguish between friends and enemies, or else..." Her voice trailed off. "I wanted him to die slowly... I wanted him to _suffer_ for what he did to my son, but I guess some part of me that was still thinking rationally got it over with. And none of this will bring my son back!" She wiped her eyes and sighed. "I just lost it, and I might have killed someone on our side!"

"But you didn't," Jonathan told her practically. "Don't beat yourself up about it. We can't be perfect all the time; I mean, look at me!"

"Yeah, I guess." She seemed to recover herself. "Does Vance know? Did you get Jake to the house?"

Jonathan nodded before adding, "Boomer was there too."

Lucky's ears had been flattened in misery. Now they shot straight up. "Boomer-- I have to go!" She began hobbling as fast as she could toward the house.

Jonathan heard the door slam, and glanced in through the window. Lucky was kneeling on the ground, hugging Boomer as he sobbed into her shoulder.

Turning, he surveyed the battlefield. Lucky had cleared out many of the enemies, but the battle was still in their enemies' favor. Jonathan ran through the battling animals, shoving and slicing his way through if he had to, with one clear thought keeping him going. _I must find Kraken!_

Two dark shapes leapt at him, and he leapt back to find himself facing the two demon squirrels, Fenris and Jormungand. But now, unlike before, both of them seemed unsure of themselves.

"Something wrong?" Jonathan asked in puzzlement.

"The only thing that's wrong is that you're still alive," Fenris snarled, though there was a slight faltering in his voice.

"Are you two feeling disillusioned?" Jonathan asked, though he knew the answer already. "Finally got it into your thick skulls that Kraken's not the kind of leader you'd want?"

The two squirrel brothers looked at each other. "Er..."

"Well..."

"There's been talk," Jormungand told him finally. "A couple other demons are... dissatisfied. See, there are four of us in all who don't like Kraken."

"Then why do you follow him?"

"Er... not to flatter you or anything," Fenris told him. "But dude, you're kind of a legend among demons. Powerful and a great fighter and all that. When we found out he's your dad... well, don't blame us for being a bit scared shitless."

"What about your sister?" said Jonathan. "Have you considered her?"

Both squirrels wore identical looks of guilt. "Well, yes," Jormungand replied. "She's actually the reason we don't want to do what he says anymore."

"My twin brother was all the reason I needed to turn," Jonathan informed them both. "If you care about your sister, then so should you." With that said, he left the two squirrels behind and continued looking for Kraken.

* * *

Itch had found Kraken and was studying the situation to see if there was anything he could do against the demon. Kraken paused to acknowledge him with a toothy grin. "You're the wimpy stutterer, aren't you? You scared of me, kid?"

The small bearcupine's brow furrowed, and his mouth opened. After what looked like a great effort, he finally forced out a single, unblemished word. "_No._"

"No?" Kraken raised an eyebrow.

Itch continued, trembling so hard from the effort that dandruff flakes fluttered down from his fur. "_I... ain't... scared... of you! You will never... hear... me... stutter!_"

Kraken's eyes widened in genuine surprise and confusion, but only momentarily. Baring his teeth, he leered down at the much smaller bearcupine. "If you aren't scared of me, you're stupid!"

Refusing to back down, even though his legs were trembling, Itch continued. "I've... gotten... over my... fear... of bullies... like you!"

Kraken simply swatted him hard in the face, knocking him down. "Bullies like me, eh? I'm so much more than a bully."

But Itch was now talking so fast he could barely stop. "I ain't scared of you, you're nothing but a bully, and you can't even make me stutter! I will never, never, never, never, never, _never_ stutter in front of somebody like you! You can't make me!" He glared up at the demon bear defiantly as he spoke again.

"He thrusts his fists against the post,

And still insists he sees no ghosts!"

Itch recited the tongue twister without any trace of a stutter, and he repeated it for good measure For a moment Kraken stared at him, and not just because the bearcupine had recited an entire tongue twister at him, but because there was no trace of fear in his angry eyes.

Then Ruby was there, facing Kraken confidently. "You're a bully, Kraken. Once they aren't scared of you, you don't know what to do!" Her teeth were bared to the gums, and her fury was so great that small red flames were leaping from her fur. Itch backed off and ran to another part of the battle, knowing his work there was done.

Kraken eyed her distastefully. "Don't try anything, foxie. I was hitting girls before you were born."

The fox bristled. "Is that something to be proud of?"

"It depends," the demon said carelessly. "It's all how you look at it. In my opinion... yes." He purposely turned his back on her scornfully. Ruby leapt, aiming for his unprotected back.

Kraken whirled and struck out at her, but luckily she'd expected this and had leapt high. With an outward swing of her dagger she slashed at his head, but in her haste her aim was off, and it succeeded in slicing off half an ear.

With a snarl of pain and rage, Kraken grabbed her and flung her away. Ruby landed and rolled several times, coming to a halt several yards away. To her surprise, Kraken was inspecting his nails as he waited for her to get up again. _He's either sadistic or just insane,_ the fox thought. _Neither of which are very helpful to me._ She had no idea of this bear's weaknesses, and he was much larger and stronger than she was. And despite his greater size, he retained impressive speed.

Gripping her knife, and oblivious to the fighting that still went on around her, Ruby flashed forward again. This time she employed the use of her fire, and was rewarded by a grunt of pain and the acrid smell of burning fur before she darted away again.

"You'll pay for that!"

This time, Kraken attacked. Ruby made a move to dodge, but the demoness Sphinx-- completely by accident-- took a backward step and trod on her tail, throwing her off balance. And that was all Kraken needed. Whipping forward, nimbly so as to avoid her weapon, Kraken managed to grasp her by the scruff of the neck and kick her down. Ruby ended up flat on her back, glaring up at him defiantly.

Kraken placed his foot firmly on her chest, catching her wrist when she tried to stab him. His eyes glinted hatefully. "If it hadn't been for you, I could have had complete control over my son," he snarled. "But you, you little chit, made him weak and useless!" Exerting his superior weight and power on her knife arm, he gradually forced the dagger point closer and closer to her chest.

Ruby fought against it with all of her strength, but Kraken was far heavier than she was, and the foot on her chest was making it nearly impossible to breathe. She closed her eyes, bracing herself for one last desperate effort. But then, a resounding shout echoed over the entire battlefield, actually causing a lull in the fighting.

"_**E-NOUGH!**_"

All around, demons and non-demons alike stopped in their tracks to look over at what had caused the yelling. The dogs that were causing so much havoc now returned to normal, and a wide majority fled the scene to lick their wounds elsewhere.

With paws curled into fists, Jonathan stood about three yards away from where his father had also looked up from his attempt to kill Ruby. The fox half-opened her jaws, struggling to breathe. Jonathan's blue eyes smoldered angrily, and his tone became lower and oddly calm. "That's... enough." His voice shook with pent-up emotion. "No more. Your fight is with me. Leave her alone. Get off of her, or I'll come over there and drag you off."

Kraken did not release his victim. "Oh yeah? You and what army?" When Jonathan didn't answer, he released Ruby. The fox leapt to her feet and made as if to attack again, but Jonathan warned her off with a shake of his head before stepping forward. Kraken was noticeably taller than he was, but he squared up to him fearlessly. Suddenly a flicker of unease appeared in Kraken's eyes, but only for a second.

"Itch was right, I guess," Jonathan said with a nod to the young bearcupine, who had doubled back at the sound of Jonathan's shout. "All your so-called 'power' comes from others' fear of you. You're a bully. A bully and nothing more than that. Unlike you, Kraken, I don't _need _an army." He turned to flash a friendly grin at Itch. "You have the memory of a Glad bag, by the way."

"You saw all that, and only decided to step in now?" Ruby muttered crossly.

"Sorry, Ruby," he apologized, sounding indeed truly sorry. "I was held up. But they won't be holding anybody up anymore," he added with a jerk of his head to the demon skunks Baital and Scylla. Both were dead. Jonathan turned back to Kraken. "You're closest supporters are being picked off, one by one. Did you happen to hear of your pal Cerberus's fate? Torn to pieces by a vengeful mother." His blue eyes sparked suddenly. "A mother... something you took away from me!"

"That's bull," Kraken snarled. "The little whining bitch killed herself, remember?"

"Yes, but because of _you!_" Jonathan shot back. "Now that I think back on it... almost every bad thing I ever did was because of you, because you taught me that if I didn't do things like that, I was weak! You --literally-- pounded into me, 'nice guys finish last'! But the only thing I ever did that was weak was give in to you!" He gripped his dagger until his knuckles turned white, and his fury squeezed tears out of his eyes. "Well, no more. I'm not a little kid anymore!"

"Says the one who's crying," Kraken taunted.

"I'm not a little kid anymore," Jonathan repeated, in a stronger voice. "I'm not a girl fox who has nothing to do with you, I'm not a defenseless thirteen-year-old like Jake was before Cerberus killed him under your orders, and I'm not half-conscious and held back by any of your lackeys." He lifted your chin. "I'm your son, and I'm tired of having the weight of your crimes on my shoulders. It ends here and now. Tell me... Father... how long has it been since you fought on even terms? How long has it been since you took on someone who was armed and ready for you?"

* * *

**CLIFFIE! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!**

**Ahem. How do you like that?! And sorry people, Jake isn't comin back. I never have more than a few bring-back-to-lifes or one fake-out death in a single story. And don't worry, Ivan will be joining the fight. You heard him, Jonathan ain't doing anything by himself that concerns both of them!**

**Oh, here's another contest. There is a reference to a famous Stephen King novel in this chapter. And, where did I get Itch's really long tongue twister from? See if you can find out!**

**At your disposal (sort of),**

**Adderstar of ValorClan**


	25. Chapter 25

Bitter experience was the best teacher of all, and bitter experience only ever came of failure. Countless failures in his past life had pounded a single, valuable lesson into Jonathan's brain: never make the first move in a fight.

And at that moment, every instinct screamed at Jonathan to attack. It was not demonic rage that was nearly driving him to a fury, or even a desire for revenge. It was anger, plain and simple: anger that he had not finished this much, much earlier. The fear that had previously gripped him was now more or less gone. All he had now to do was fight. What with strategies, ideas, and observations running through his mind, there really was no space left for fear.

To be brutally honest, things looked hardly favorable for Jonathan. He was, for one thing, noticeably smaller than his father, and for another, his crippled foot hindered him and put him at a disadvantage that, in a fight with someone as large as Kraken, was quite severe. And yet Lucky, who had arrived just a few moments before the fight started, retained a confident smile on her face, despite the fact that she was clearly trying not to cry.

Without warning, Kraken charged. Rather than stand to meet his attack, Jonathan whipped to one side before launching himself at Kraken's side. The latter whirled to meet him, dodging his weapon warily, and knocked him backward with a blow to the face. But it was still a one-up for Jonathan, who managed to stay standing; Kraken had punched him in the mouth. Therefore, Jonathan was the only one so far to draw blood.

Kraken shook his paw out to one side, scattering drops of blood but grinning arrogantly. At first Jonathan wondered what he was so smug about, until her glanced down at his own empty paws and cursed.

Dangling Jonathan's knife forward teasingly, Kraken smiked. "That was more fun than taking candy from a baby. I just disarmed you."

"No ya didn't!" Jonathan grabbed for his weapon, but it was a purposeful miss. Expecting him to try to retrieve hi knife, Kraken yanked his paw back, and Jonathan shot under his arm before skidding to a halt just behind him.

Gritting his teeth, the much larger demon stared down at his side, which was now bleeding slugglishly. Jonathan's pointed teeth were flecked with blood.

"The only way to disarm me is to kill me!" he taunted. "I could take you with my bare paws!"

Without warning, Kraken flashed forward and hit him with a vicious back-paw to the face, knocking him to the ground. Before Jonathan could recover, Kraken kicked him in the side.

"I missed being able to hit you," Kraken snarled balefully. "But now, just like old times, eh?"

"Here's something a little new!" For a moment, everyone watching thought that Jonathan had spoken, for the voice sounded exactly like his, until Ivan launched himself into the fray and hit Kraken in the face, splitting his lip. Landing lightly on his feet, Ivan grabbed his brother's paw and helped him up. "Try taking on both of us!"

Jonathan opened his mouth to protest, but Ivan interrupted him hotly. "Shut up, Jonathan! He's my dad too and I'm just as involved in this as you are, so quite being so damn noble!"

"Oh, I was just going to say that it might not be altogether fair," Jonathan said with a smirk and a barely noticeable wink. "After all, there are two of us, right?"

Ivan caught on quickly and returned the wink. "Right! I mean, if his version of fighting amounts to beating up kids about a quarter of his age--"

"And only one at a time at that," Jonathan pointed out.

"I see what you mean (look at his face, are you seeing this?)."

"He punches like a five-year-old, too (yes, this is priceless, keep going)."

"Hinderingly wimpy, I gotta say."

"Mm, yes. How old is he again? If he's fifty or over, arthritis must be--"

"SHUT UP!" Kraken roared, enraged.

But the two twins carried on, pretending to ignore him.

"The years have not been kind. Here's your knife back, by the way. Do you think he's noticed he isn't holding it anymore yet?"

"I'm surprised. Thank you, by the way. I'd better disinfect this though. After carving through crowds of his brainless lackeys, there's enough filth on this thing without him touching it."

The lighthearted tone in Jonathan's voice had curled to a hard-edged snarl, and it scalded Kraken to the point of attacking recklessly. Expecting this, both brothers sprang apart, and Jonathan slammed his knifepoint downward just as Kraken lashed out at Ivan.

Kraken's hit caught Ivan in the face, tearing off the gauze pad and sending it flying. This revealed three parallel slash marks, still only half-healed, over Ivan's left eye, from his forehead to his cheek.

Jonathan blinked, staring at him. "Dude..."

Kraken swore, his face contorting in agony. The knife had been driven into his foot, impaling it to the ground. Gasping with pain, Kraken manage to grit out between his teeth, "That _hurt._"

Reaching down, Jonathan wrenched the knife out, perhaps with a bit more vigor than was absolutely necessary. His lip curled. "You're a doctor. _Deal_ with it."

Ivan smirked. "Yeah, mother-_fuck-er._"

In the tense crowd surrounding the three of them, a non-demon gopher, the last non-demon alive, spotted a paw signal from Kraken, barely visible to anyone. Gripping a handgun, the gopher moved through the crowd until he stood just behind Ivan. He raised the gun until it was inches away from the unsuspecting bear's head, then pressed it to his head and squeezed the trigger.

_Click. BANG!_

Ivan whirled around just in time to see the gopher fall with a bullet hole in the side of his head. The handgun had misfired. Ivan's gaze flicked to the roof of Flippy's house. The green bear reloaded and cocked his shotgun, nodding to him. Ivan returned the nod gratefully before turning back to Kraken, whose honey-brown eyes were flickering left and right desperately.

"Lost another lifeline, didja?" Ivan mocked him contemptuously.

"What's the matter, daddy dearest?" Jonathan taunted. "Running out of ways to cheat? Other than fear and intimidation, that's all you've got."

"You're pathetic," Ivan snarled. "That was your last non-demon, too. All your pets ran off, so all you have left are a few demons who I believe are having second thoughts."

In the crowd, four of Kraken's remaining demons looked at each other and nodded. It was time to start acting of their own free will.

"Oy Kraken," Orthus the rottweiler called out. "Is this a bad time for us to hand in our resignation?" Orthus, Echidna, and the two black squirrels Fenris and Jormungand sidestepped to mingle with those who had once been their enemies. Echidna even went so far as to give Ruby a friendly punch on the arm.

"No hard feelings?" the sea mink grunted.

"Nah."

"You make me sick," Jonathan said scornfully. "Even if you win this fight, you've already lost."

"I'll say he has," a dry voice called out suddenly. The crowd parted to stare at the newcomer, who came striding through confidently. Everyone present knew him or knew of him; the familiar black ermine with wings. Flanking him were Hel and another recognizable figure that made Jonathan's heart drop to his stomach.

A haze settled over the atmosphere of the area. Flippy climbed down from the roof, and everyone who had stayed inside now emerged.

Shadow padded calmly to the middle of the crowd with Hel and Lilia following him like an honor guard. "This is all very interesting," the Spirit Guide said, pausing in front of the three gray bears. "But I decided it was time for me to intervene."

Suddenly, Lilia stepped passed him and approached Kraken with a determined look on her face. The demon sneered at her, and her fists clenched. Staring at him as though trying to decide how to insult him, she finally spat down at his feet before turning her back on him and walking away. She paused as she passed Jonathan, and, taking a deep breath, looked him in the eye.

Jonathan opened his mouth, searching for something to say that would sum up everything he felt at that moment. Finally he spoke, in a voice barely above a whisper.

"You just... _left _me."

A shudder ran through Lilia's entire frame. "Is it meaningless to apologize?"

Blinking furiously, Jonathan shook his head. "Never."

Tears leaked from Lilia's blue eyes, and without warning she stepped forward and hugged him, sobbing quietly. "I'm so sorry."

Jonathan stopped blinking and hugged back, his eyes looking wet. All he could manage to say was, "'S all right, Mom."

* * *

**Sorry for the shortness... and how long this took. Writer's block hit me hard. I just decided it was a good place to end this chapter (on a melt-your-heart moment with Jonathan). There're two blatant movie references in this chapter, and I'm sure the silenced has caught both of them... and maybe a couple more that not even I noticed. One's a British comedy, so it might not be that obvious, but the other is my favorite Hugo Weaving movie.**

**At your disposal (sort of),**

**Adderstar of ValorClan**


	26. Chapter 26

Kraken stared at his former wife and son with pure undisguised loathing on his face. Instinctively Ivan strode over to stand by them. As he did so, he treated his father to a very similar look.

Hel had crept from Shadow's side and was now standing by Fenris and Jormungand. The three were whispering to each other, probably catching up on things and apologizing.

After finally releasing Jonathan, Lilia turned to Shadow and nodded.

Shadow turned to glance at Kraken. "You're a slippery one, Kraken, that's for sure." His tone was dry and slightly menacing, but not outright aggressive. "I wish I could force your intended afterlife upon you, but I cannot. It is always the choice of the souls themselves." As he said this, he seemed to glance at Jonathan, but it was impossible to tell with his hood up.

"Well we're in Crossroads now," the winged stoat continued. "Now you have a choice. Wandering the earth alone with what I would hardly consider an existence, or that." A pit opened up in the ground, impossibly deep and filled with bright red-orange fire. All the demons drew back from it fearfully, their eyes wide with terror, and those who had not experienced an afterlife quickly followed them.

Ivan moved to Jonathan's side, gripping his shoulder. The latter was trembling, his eyes wide and staring as he silently relived his experiences in that pit. Ivan whispered to Jonathan, who nodded dumbly before passing him his knife. "_Jon, remember what Shadow said._"

Kraken snorted at the Spirit Guide. "As if I would choose something like _Hell._ What do you take me for, ermine? If I go down there, I know there's no coming back."

"It's the souls' choice," Jonathan said softly, dangerously. "I'm a soul, too. We all are, in case you hadn't noticed."

Kraken looked at him contemptuously. "Choose your next actions carefully, _my son_. They may be your last."

The gray-furred demon bear glanced around at everyone around him. Could he do this? If he did, would he be solving something or simply repeating what he had done at the age of fourteen, which had resulted in his fall to petty murder and evil?Ivan, who had never hated him and never would hate him; Ruby, who he perhaps harbored... feelings for; Lucky, who had helped him and everyone else turn this around; Flippy, who had suffered because of him for so long, and yet still managed to forgive him; Needles and Reaper, who he had helped to create and who had in turn helped him; Lilia, his mother, who had never stopped believing in him; Echidna, Orthus, Jormungand, and Fenris, who had found it in themselves to make the same choice he had; and all the rest of them. Yes, he realized, this was different. Before, he had done this only out of hatred. He had killed because he wanted to kill. His hesitation now was proof that things had changed. He was not doing this only because he wanted to kill his father, but because he didn't want his father to kill any of those he had now come to respect, to care about.

Jonathan moved to quickly for Kraken to react in time. With a single, powerful strike to the throat, Jonathan knocked Kraken backwards in a tremendous burst of power. Kraken stumbled back, skidding to a halt right before the edge. An inch backward and he would have fallen. Blue eyes narrowed, Jonathan squared up to him. The remaining demons who had not deserted him backed away as Lucky, Flippy, Cuddles, and several others advanced menacingly.

Kraken's eyes went wide with shock. "What are you doing?"

"You're mad!" Hatred and desperation was clear in Kraken's voice as he addressed both his sons. "You're _mad_!"

A shadow of a smile flitted across Jonathan's face. "Pain and suffering," he murmured, repeating what his father had said. "You'll find plenty of both down there."

"It's my choice!" Kraken snarled. "No one, living or dead, forces me to choose the afterlife!"

"It's the souls' choice," Jonathan informed him coldly. "I'm a soul, too, in case you hadn't noticed. We all are." Venom curled his voice. "You rob me and my brother of our childhood... you drive my mother to suicide... you turn me into a monster like _you_... you threaten innocent people with pain and death! Oh, I've chosen my actions carefully, _Father._ Maybe you should have done the same!"

Gripping the dagger by the handle, Ivan took a deep breath and stepped toward the edge of the pit. Repulsed by the very sight of the flaming abyss, Ivan used all of his willpower to simply raise his clenched paw over it. He gritted his teeth.

"Hey, Dad!" When Kraken (as well as everyone else) turned to stare at him, he struck with the dagger like a snake. Kraken grunted with pain and surprise as Ivan flashed a split-second-long but meaningful glance at his brother before gritting out four words into his father's face.

"May you live forever."

Kraken stared down in shock at the dagger that seemed to grow out of his body before turning his now frantic eyes to his sons. "This... you're acting exactly like me! This is... this is hypocrisy!"

At this, Jonathan blinked. This was exactly what he'd been worried about. Slowly, he turned his head to look to Ruby. She stared back at him levelly, and slowly nodded once. It was small, almost imperceptible, but it was a nod.

Jonathan turned back to Kraken, who was struggling to stay standing as the effects of the dagger took their toll. His blue eyes sparked. "'Hypocrisy'?" His lip curled, revealing two rows of jagged teeth, as he roared in his father's face, "THIS IS JUSTICE!"

Raising his foot, the injured twisted one, he kicked out powerfully, catching Kraken full in the stomach. Kraken's eyes registered panic for a split second before the force of Jonathan's kick knocked him back out into space. Time slowed, and he seem to hang there for a split second before plummeting down. A blood-curdling noise tore from his throat, something halfway between a scream and a bitter, insane laugh. It made Jonathan's fur stand on end, burning itself into Jonathan's memory like a branding iron.

Seeing Kraken fall screaming into the abyss, most of the remaining enemy demons turned and threw themselves in after them. One forced his way past and tried to flee, but Ivan pursued him and shoved him in.

Pain was shooting up Jonathan's foot, but he barely noticed it. He only dimly registered Ivan returning to stand by him. Side by side, the two brothers stared down into the roaring flames until their eyes stung and watered. But that wasn't the fault of the fire.

Lucky approached them cautiously. "You two okay?"

Shaking, Jonathan turned his gaze to her. His streaming blue eyes were hard as he replied in a tight voice, "He was a bastard..."

Ivan finished for him. "...But he was still our father."

Shadow came up behind them and drew them away from the pit. "No decent creature can truly hate a parent," he said gravely. "But save your sympathy for those who have earned it."

With a weak grin at his brother, Ivan attempted to lighten the situation. "Well, at least we're free of him now, brother."

"No." Jonathan shook his head. "I don't think I'll ever be free of him."

"Yeah, I guess not."

"But you're freer than you were before," Lilia said with a small smile. She glanced over to where Hel, Fenris, and Jormungand were still standing together, whispering and laughing. "Perhaps we all are, now. Little Trish has gotten over the madness caused by her unfair death, caused by the knowledge that her brothers were to suffer for all of eternity. And her brothers, Brian and Russ, have gotten over their own petty emotions for the same reason you did, Jonathan." Her eyes were filled with love and pride, and she clasped her son's paw warmly. "Because you are no more evil than the ones you care about. But if you stay true to yourself, you will never fall to the flames of Hell, ever again. You've been forgiven, Jonathan. And believe me when I say that it's a rare privilege, especially for you."

"But..." Jonathan broke off. "Well... I just don't think that any of what I've done so far... anything I can do in the future... will make up for what I've done."

Shadow sighed. "You're right, it does not. But," he added with a smile, "Life is not a game, and neither is death. We should never keep score. That only leads to revenge, and revenge never solved anything."

Jonathan smiled sadly, looking back and forth from his mother to his brother. "I guess you'll be having to leave?"

"Not me!" Ivan laughed, clapping him on the back. "No way, bro, I'm not leaving you behind ever again."

Giving his paw a final gentle squeeze, Lilia turned to hug her other son. "Take care of each other while I'm gone."

"We will, Mom," Ivan assured her. Grinning, he tapped the scar Kraken had inflicted on him. "We're gonna have some fun, though. Now nobody'll be able to tell us apart, aside from the clothes we wear."

"Speaking of which, what happened to Lucky's scar?" Jonathan asked Shadow. "You know, the one I gave her thirteen years ago?"

"I don't know for sure," Shadow admitted. "I think it has something to do with how you let go of the remaining demon nature in you, but I don't know for sure. Still, there are millions of mysteries in this world. What's one more?"

Suddenly, there was a sharp intake of breath nearby. Jonathan turned to see Lucky standing straight and staring off into the distance. With a flash of brown fur, Jake came running out of the hazy atmosphere of Crossroads. "Mom!"

Shadow sighed. "I never told him he could follow us."

"Oh, come on, Shadow," Lilia said with a snort. "Do you really think he was going to listen to you?"

"Jake!" Lucky caught her son in a strong hug. "I'm so sorry, it was all my fault..."

"Nah, Mom, it's alright," Jake murmured. "It's alright... I'm gonna be alright now." Vance, Ari, and Boomer gathered around them, exchanging words and embraces.

Shadow let them have a few last moments as a family together before calling to Jake and Hel. Reluctantly, the two of them followed him, but Hel, or rather Trish, broke off and approached Jonathan. Gesturing for him to lean down to her level, she whispered in his ear for a few moments. Only he could hear what she was saying.

"_Tales of hearts and spirits broken,_

_Words of misery long unspoken_

_Shattered hearts that may not mend,_

_Wish for pain to end._

_Silent screaming, soundless tears,_

_Nothing there to quell your fears,_

_Nowhere to run, not place to hide,_

_You couldn't escape, but you never tried._

_To him you were just a toy to break,_

_You alone knew that any warmth was fake._

_And when he was gone, were you truly free?_

_Could you really become who you wanted to be?_

_No... you were still alone, shunning love and hope, too,_

_Kindness was alien, hate was all you knew._"

Jonathan blinked back a tear, but the little squirrel smiled secretively up at him and touched a paw to the side of her muzzle as she finished.

"_Yet here you are now, through the door in the wall,_

_A demon no more, you've come through it all._"

Turning, she trotted back to stand by Shadow and the others. Waving and calling their goodbyes, the spirits vanished. The hazy atmosphere of Crossroads lifted, and the fiery pit disappeared.

Ivan sighed. "Well... I made my choice when I let Shadow bring me back to life. I'm not going to regret it... even though Mom's gone now... Think she'll be all right?"

"Yes," Jonathan replied truthfully. "And she's not gone, Ivan." Slowly, he opened his clenched paw, revealing the amber necklace Lilia had pressed into his paw. "Not really."

* * *

Ruby sat on a bench by herself, watching as families broke off to spend time together. Flippy, Teddy, and Flaky sat with Spiker, Splash, Itch, and Needles, talking together and smiling. Lucky and Vance were with the remainder of their brood, shedding tears together as they recounted their own fond memories of Jake, who had not survived the battle. And then there were Cuddles and Giggles talking and laughing, Shifty presenting Petunia with some trinket that was probably not acquired lawfully, but after all that had happened, no one really cared.

With a quiet sigh, the vixen remembered her own mother, who had died of some sickness out on the streets, when Ruby herself was only thirteen. Now that she thought of it, she may never have met Jonathan had that not happened. Her heart gave a great leap. And Jonathan... with everything going on, they'd never had a chance to simply sit down and talk about... well... everything had happened. And so much had. Smiling ruefully, the vixen shrugged inwardly. He was probably catching up on things with his brother...

"Hey."

Surprised, Ruby looked up at the gray bear, who was standing right next to her bench. The corners of her mouth twitched into a smile. "Hey."

Jonathan sat down beside her. "You know... I really am sorry about the... you know... when we were alive..."

"Forget it," Ruby told him. "That was then, this is now. I'm not holding that against you."

Jonathan studied the cracks in the wood. "I'm grateful for that," he said truthfully.

The two of them were silent for a moment, and Ruby swung her tail absently. After a pause, she finally broke the silence. "I could never hate you, you know."

"What?" Jonathan sounded surprised.

Ruby shrugged, staring at the ground. "After you killed me... there were times when I just wanted to hate you for what you did. But I never could." Her red eyes were full of emotion. "That time, thirteen years ago, when I had that chance to bring you down, I just... I guess I could never stop loving you."

The bear followed her gaze to the ground, unsure of what to say. Finally he murmured, "There were times when I hated myself. Even before I turned, I still felt... well, guilty. Back then, I didn't want to love. I didn't want to feel anything, but you changed that, and it frightened me. I always had a fear of not being in control of myself, especially after I killed my dad the first time. It scared me, and... I'm sorry I took it out on you." He grinned ruefully. "I guess I could never stop loving you, either."

The warm feeling in the pit of Ruby's stomach returned, and she reached out and took hold of his paw. Nothing more needed to be said. Shyly she looked at him, and when he suddenly leaned in and kissed her, no one could tell who was more surprised.

* * *

**Aaw warn't that cute.**

**next chapter will be the epilogue, set eight years later. sorry about the wait for this one, but the next will be much faster, hopefully.**

**Did any of you catch the blatant movie reference? (I'm sure someone here did).**

**At your disposal (sort of),**

**Adderstar of ValorClan**


	27. Chapter 27: Epilogue and Goodies

**This epilogue is sort of based on a couple of the epilogues in the Redwall series... (grin) Eheheh. I know I didn't do this in the beginning (I forgot), but I'm trying to make this look like it's a story being told to somebody, who will narrate this epilogue.**

* * *

I blinked as the storyteller before me finished his tale. "Is that the end of the story, then?"

Jonathan shook his head. "No, it's not the end of the story."

"Well, where does the story end?" I pressed persistantly.

"It doesn't, or it hasn't yet," Jonathan replied. "That's the thing about stories and books. They don't end on the last page, any more than they begin on the first."

I blinked again, cocking my head. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"There's always infinite things that happened before and after the events I just told you about," he replied. "Like you, for example."

Grinning, I laughed. "I'm not part of any story. Nothing special ever happens to me."

"Really, now?" he said with an ironic smile. "You live each day to the fullest extent, you're alive in this world, you've got friends and family who care about you... I think that's pretty special, don't you?"

I cocked an eyebrow at him. "Well, a lot of people have that."

"Does that make it any less special?"

He always put me at a loss for words. It gets annoying after a while. To hide my uncertainty, I changed the subject. "Well... are you still a demon?"

A grim look crossed his face. "Yes, I am. Listen, Randall, you can take the demon all the way out of Hell, but you can't take all of Hell out of the demon. It has a few advantages, though." As if to demonstrate, he snapped his fingers and produced a small blue flame. "And there's the part where I'm immune to... certain wounds."

"Only demon-slaying weapons can kill you... us, right?"

"Sort of," he conceded. "I've tested this over time, actually. Most wounds that are fatal to normal people are not to me, but... well, just so long as I stay more or less in one piece, I live."

I tilted my head to one side. "So if you get torn in half or decapitated..."

"Yes. Demon-slaying weapon or no, that's fatal. A stab to the chest, slit throat, that sort of thing... I can easily survive that. In fact, I can handle dying and pain as whole."

My blue eyes widened. "Really? Is that because of..."

"Once you go through something a lot, even physical pain, you develop a sort of immunity to it," he explained.

"What can't you handle?"

He went silent for a moment. "You know, I talked to Lucky not long after what happened, and she told me something. She said, 'whenever you have a child, that's another life you can lose'. When I killed her, she wasn't overly bothered, but when Jake died... it really was like part of her died with him."

I bit my lip, seeing his point. "Oh. But... what happened to the demons who didn't follow Kraken? Orthus and Echidna and those two squirrels?"

"I'm not sure," he said with a shrug. "After what happened, they all left together. Nobody knows where. But I think... I think they were just trying to find themselves again. And after lifetimes of evil, that's a daunting feat."

"And then Reaper got her own body, didn't she?" I asked, even though I knew this was true. "Shadow the Spirit Guide did that for her, didn't he?"

"Oh, yes. But the funny thing is, Needles and Reaper never stray too far from each other. People often ask them why, and they always say, 'because it hurts'. You know Flippy and me; we're the best of friends. Stands to reason, doesn't it? For a long time we shared a mind. Even if it wasn't exactly a friendly relationship, there's something about knowing a person that closely that forms odd bonds of friendship. For Reaper and Needles, though... they were born sharing a mind. And that... that's a tough bond to break."

"Bonds again," I muttered, remembering what he's said about Hel's speech. "Me and Kirsti aren't that close."

"That's because she's only four and you hardly know her yet," he said with a smile. "And when she's your age, you can tell her this story about me."

"Nah, you tell it better," I said with a grin. "Because you were actually there, living it." I smote my forehead suddenly. "Oh! I almost forgot to show you!" Concentrating hard on my paw, I managed to produce a weak purple flame before it flickered and died. "It gets stronger every time I do it," I explained as he crouched to look at it. "I showed Mom, and she says she doesn't care if I can spit acid, as long as I do it in the house."

He laughed. "That sounds like your mother. But between you and me," he added furtively, "she could knock me over any day."

I grinned at him. "Did you just figure that out, Dad?"

Laughing again, he tousled my head fondly. "Go on and play outside, Randy. Hey, be nice to your little sister!"

I groaned. "Aw, _Dad..._"

* * *

**Fin.**

* * *

And now, as a big thank-you to all who stayed with these fics, in the footsteps of Hiromu Arakawa...

_**EXTRAS!!**_

Fun facts about OCs! Random Mini-Story! Sneak peeks for upcoming fics!

The first original character we shall cover is a very popular character indeed... our favorite feline, LUCKY!

**Lucky Fun Facts:**

Theme Song: Keep Holding On by Avril Lavigne

Voice talents of: Avril Lavigne

Did you know?: Lucky's great-grandcat really _is_ from Ulthar.

Next up... Jonathan and Ivan.

**Jonathan Fun Facts**

Theme Song: What I've Done by Linkin Park

Voice Talents of:

Did you know?: Jonathan is a surprisingly good singer. (he gets it from his mother)

**Ivan Fun Facts**

Theme Song: Slip Out the Back by Fort Minor

Voice Talents of: Mike Shinoda

Did you know?: The personalities of and relationship/bond between Jonathan and Ivan were inspired by Fred and George Weasley from Harry Potter, and the Hitaachin twins from Ouran High School Host Club. I think Bagg and Runn the otter twins from Mariel of Redwall also deserve a shout-out.

Also, Ivan is as good at rapping as his brother is at singing.

Know what? Let's do the whole family.

**Lilia Fun Facts**

Theme Song: Going Under by Evanescence

Voice talents of: Amy Lee

Fun Fact: I have a Redwall character of the exact same name (a little baby girl otter).

**Kraken Fun Facts**

Dude, this guy has had like three names (Steve, then Sparky, then Kraken)

Theme Song: ... actually... I honestly cannot think of a song that fits him. He's just so... evil. hugs

Voice talents of: Michael Crawford (for those of you familiar with The Phantom of the Opera, you'll know who this is)

Fun Fact: Two things inspired his epic death-- 300, and the death of Captain Husk in the Mistmantle Chronicles.

And now, here's the crazy girlie demon-- no, not Ruby, REAPER!

**Reaper Fun Facts**

Theme song: Bad Reputation by Halfcocked

Voice Talents of: Myself. AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Fun Fact: Reaper's original name was Blade. But it sounded so... boring.

Now Ruby (finally)

**Ruby Fun Facts**

Theme Song: I'm Not Ready to Make Nice by the Dixie Chicks

Voice Talents of: Celine Dion (just for the hell of it, really)

Fun Fact: I was actually going to kill her off, but I decided not to and replaced her with Jake.

Jake (snarling): AAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! (jumps on Adder and starts thrashing her)

**Shadow Fun Facts**

Theme Song: Pharao by Freedom Call

Voice Talents of: Orlando Bloom

Fun Fact: Shadow is based on a mixture of Martin the Warrior from the Redwall series and Medhiv the Prophet from Warcraft!

**General Fun Fact that you might have missed**

Winchester the lion and Epic the power metal-obsessed bear were both absent from Blood is Thicker than Water. They were not even mentioned. It was as if they vanished from the face of the HTF-verse. (Dun dun dun)

**Random Mini-scene**

Lucky peered over the banister, squinting at the floor that lay far below at the bottom of the spiral stairs. Behind her, Flaky's acrophobia kicked in, and she shuddered violently. "Wow, that's a lot of steps," Lucky commented.

"Did you just figure that out?" Vance drawled humorlessly.  
The black cat glowered badtemperedly at him, retorting over her shoulder as she started down the steps. "You know, Vance, you really need to --WHOA!"

Because she hadn't been looking where she was going, Lucky missed her footing on the first step and proceeded to bounce repeatedly on her way down the stairs. Each landing was followed by an exclamation of her obvious pain.

WHUMP!  
"Ow!"

WHUMP!  
"Frick!"  
WHUMP!  
"Retarded gravity!"  
WHUMP!  
"Son of a--"  
WHUMP!  
"You know, Flaky--"  
WHUMP!  
"--a little help--"  
WHUMP!  
"--would be nice!"  
WHUMP!  
"Oh, for the love of--"  
WHUMP!  
"Why me?!"  
WHUMP!  
"Crap!"  
Thud.  
"_BALLS!_"

Back up at the top of the stairs, Flaky grasped the railing and leaned out to try to find where Lucky had landed. "Lucky, you okay?" she called.

Sprawled at the foot of the steps, Lucky managed to yell back, "Well, I just fell down about 4,609 steps, I landed leaning upside down against the stairs, and I feel like my head's splitting in half, so yeah, I'm just fine!"

Vance lifted his shades and rested them back on his brow before yelling down in a sarcasm-laden voice, "Geez, Lucky, is the floor slippery much?"

"SCREW YOU, VANCE!"

The weasel flashed a small grin at Flaky. "She'll be fine."

**Teasers for Planned HTF fics! (which I may or may not do)**

**The Madness Strikes** (parody fic): Adderstar of ValorClan's version of the HTF-verse has been invaded, and only a crazed, sharp-implement-obsessed, arachnaphobic rat and an axe-swinging Plot Bunny have the know-how to stop it. This will be a story chock-full of badfic horror, OOCness, flaming, lulz, Plot Bunnies, and most of all... SUES. All thanks to the twisted mind of Plot Bunny P4.

May Shadow have mercy on our souls, but who will have mercy on Shadow's? Not even the Spirit Guide can escape the horrors of the fanfiction world.

**Fire-Cat **(not affiliated with my current HTF fics): For two years, orphan Blazepaw has suffered at the paws of a greedy scientist, simply for possessing an unusual ability. But he has sworn to one day free all those who suffer the Alchemist's torment, especially his best friend Cas and his younger sister Twilight. When he finally escapes the facility, he is found more dead than alive by the one person who could truly understand his feelings of fear and isolation. But as he begins to see his new friend as a protector and surrogate father, he cannot forget his promise, especially with the Alchemist's cronies determined to recapture him... by any means necessary.

**My Annoying Roommate **(Humor oneshot under construction; coming soon!): After years of putting up with his little problem, Flippy has learned to put up with it. This is a completely normal day in his life.

* * *

**Once again, I'd like to give a big thank-you to everyone who stayed with this fic all this time, even those who didn't review. I love you guys! (not literally, of course, but you get the point). Yes, this is the end. I feel somehow... I dunno... emotional. Some mini-fics and oneshots may follow that include some of these OCs, but this is the end of the main storyline. And yet, as Cthulhu said, it is not the end of the story itself.**

**Anywho, I'm going to be taking a break from the HTF fandom for a while (well, writing in it at least, but I'm still reading your fics!) in order to finish some of my other ones. If you like Redwall or Warriors, feel free to come calling!**

**Thank you again for staying with these. You guys are the reason I write here!**

**Truly and completely at your disposal (maybe),**

**Adderstar of ValorClan**


End file.
